Study Recommends Disclosure of Medical Mistakes That Affect Multiple Patients

From a Press Release by the Agency for Health Research and Qualtity (AHRQ)

Health care organizations should disclose medical mistakes that affect multiple patients even if patients were not harmed by the event, according to an AHRQ-funded research paper published in the September 2 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. Medical mistakes that affect multiple patients, known as large-scale adverse events to researchers, are incidents or series of related incidents that harm or could potentially harm multiple patients. These events, which can include incompletely sterilized surgical equipment, poor laboratory quality control and equipment malfunctions, are often identified after care has been provided and can affect thousands of patients.