title: When a Surgical Colleague Makes an Error.
abstract: Professionalism requires that doctors acknowledge their errors and figure out how to avoid making similar ones in the future. Over the last few decades, doctors have gotten better at acknowledging mistakes and apologizing to patients when a mistake happens. Such disclosure is especially complicated when one becomes aware of an error made by a colleague. We present a case in which consultant surgeons became aware that a colleague seemed to have made a serious error. Experts in surgery and bioethics comment on appropriate responses to this situation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota; Department of Surgery, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania;
authors.forename: Ryan M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Antiel
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric General, Thoracic and Fetal Surgery, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania;
authors.forename: Thane A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Blinman
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, Children's Mercy Hospital, Kansas City, Missouri.
authors.forename: Rebecca M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Rentea
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, Children's Mercy Hospital, Kansas City, Missouri.
authors.forename: Katherine W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Gonzalez
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, Children's Mercy Hospital, Kansas City, Missouri.
authors.forename: E Marty
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Knott
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, Children's Mercy Hospital, Kansas City, Missouri.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Juang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, Children's Mercy Hospital, Kansas City, Missouri.
authors.forename: Tolulope
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Oyetunji
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, Children's Mercy Hospital, Kansas City, Missouri.
authors.forename: G W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Holcomb
authors.affiliation: The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois; and.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Angelos
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Children's Mercy Hospital, Kansas City, Missouri; jlantos@cmh.edu.
authors.forename: John D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Lantos
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002983:Clinical Competence; D013505:Digestive System Surgical Procedures / Q000009:adverse effects*; D030881:Disclosure; D019468:Disease Management; D006627:Hirschsprung Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D019300:Medical Errors; D010820:Physicians / Q000592:standards*