Half of U.S. Doctors Don't Report Medical Mistakes, Study Says

By Robert Carrier

Published on December 04, 2007

The study, conducted by Eric Campbell and a team of researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, surveyed 1,600 physicians between 2003 and 2004 on a variety of procedural topics. Among the topics discussed with the participants included whether physicians should undergo annual competence reviews (only 31 percent do) and whether or not doctors should ensure that they treat all patients equally, regardless of ethnicity or gender (only 25 percent of the physicians polled said that they do).

The data collected during the study indicated that 46 percent of physicians polled knew of a major medical error that had occurred and failed to report it, even though 96 percent of the physicians interviewed agreed that they should report such incompetence (among cardiologists and surgeons however, only 45 percent agreed that they should be obligated to make such a report).

Some within the medical field believe that one reason for the numbers might be a belief by doctors that little can be done to help those who are struggling.

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