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Should A Physician Apologize For A Medical Mistake? – The Controversy Over The Effectiveness Of Apology Law Statutes, Samuel D. Hodge, Jr.

Cleveland State Law Review

There are two approaches that health care providers can pursue in handling a medical error. Is it better for a physician not to admit a mistake and aggressively defend the claim or apologize and try to amicably resolve the matter? There has been a growing movement for physicians to offer words of sympathy or to apologize for a medical mistake as a way of minimizing the impact of a medical error and reducing the chances of a malpractice claim. There are a number of benefits to this approach but critics maintain that an apology is a useless gesture with an …