Reducing preventable errors is the first step to fewer lawsuits

Reducing preventable errors is the first step to fewer lawsuits

06/28/2004

Editor:

We applaud the Pennsylvania House's unanimous passage last week of the Whistleblower Protection Act.

The legislation strengthens whistleblower protection for Pennsylvania doctors, nurses and other licensed health workers by prohibiting hospitals and health care facilities from retaliating against the health care practitioner, in relation to salary or terms or condition of employment, for filing a complaint in good faith. It establishes a confidential toll-free line that doctors and nurses could use to report problems pertaining to patient safety and quality of care. The reports would be investigated by the state's Patient Safety Authority.

This legislation is an important step in the effort to improve patient safety by reducing preventable medical errors. According to the recent U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and Johns Hopkins University report, preventable medical errors kill tens of thousands of patients annually and add $4.6 billion to health care costs. Their findings echo similar findings from the Institute for Medicine.

Unfortunately, Pennsylvania doctors and hospitals have strenuously resisted public reporting of medical errors. The problem of retribution is so bad that recently, the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) formed a five-member committee to come up with a plan to stop the misuse of peer review committees to target doctors who speak out about poor quality care being delivered. The creation of the committee was in response, in part, to a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette series which reported that doctors across the United States have been targeted for retribution by their colleagues and employers when they spoke out about poor care.

The series detailed extensive efforts to "pay back" doctors who spoke up and included the details of retribution Dr. Edward Dench endured. Dr. Dench recently completed his tenure as president of the Pennsylvania Medical Society (PMS).

Two physicians have filed suit against the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) alleging that doctors and administrators at UPMC falsified hundreds of thousands of cancer screenings, allowed systemic errors to occur and subjected cancer patients to unnecessary testing in order to increase profits. The physicians apparently suffered retribution for speaking out.

The Whistleblower Protection Act will help to reduce the number of preventable medical errors that are the basis of many medical malpractice lawsuits.

Dan Fee
Pennsylvania Citizens for Fairness