Commentary How does the law recognize and deal with medical errors? Citation Text: Merry A. How does the law recognize and deal with medical errors? J R Soc Med. 2009;102(7):265-71. doi:10.1258/jrsm.2009.09k029. Copy Citation Format: DOIGoogle ScholarPubMedBibTeXEndNote X3 XMLEndNote 7 XMLEndnote taggedPubMedIdRIS Download Citation Save Save to your library Print Share Facebook Twitter Linkedin Copy URL September 2, 2009 Merry A. J R Soc Med. 2009;102(7):265-71. View more articles from the same authors. Using an example from aviation, this article describes medical errors in the context of the law and considers whether legal response affects safety. PubMed citation Available at Save Save to your library Print Share Facebook Twitter Linkedin Copy URL Cite Citation Citation Text: Merry A. How does the law recognize and deal with medical errors? J R Soc Med. 2009;102(7):265-71. doi:10.1258/jrsm.2009.09k029. Copy Citation Format: DOIGoogle ScholarPubMedBibTeXEndNote X3 XMLEndNote 7 XMLEndnote taggedPubMedIdRIS Download Citation Related Resources From the Same Author(s) We asked the experts: the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist and the COVID-19 pandemic: recommendations for content and implementation adaptations. March 17, 2021 Surgical teams' attitudes about surgical safety and the surgical safety checklist at 10 years: a multinational survey. November 17, 2021 Improving the quality and safety of patient care in cardiac anesthesia. December 10, 2014 Sustainability and long-term effectiveness of the WHO surgical safety checklist combined with pulse oximetry in a resource-limited setting: two-year update from Moldova. April 8, 2015 Fake and expired medications in simulation-based education: an underappreciated risk to patient safety. March 23, 2016 A 'paperless' wall-mounted surgical safety checklist with migrated leadership can improve compliance and team engagement. 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We asked the experts: the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist and the COVID-19 pandemic: recommendations for content and implementation adaptations. March 17, 2021
Surgical teams' attitudes about surgical safety and the surgical safety checklist at 10 years: a multinational survey. November 17, 2021
Sustainability and long-term effectiveness of the WHO surgical safety checklist combined with pulse oximetry in a resource-limited setting: two-year update from Moldova. April 8, 2015
Fake and expired medications in simulation-based education: an underappreciated risk to patient safety. March 23, 2016
A 'paperless' wall-mounted surgical safety checklist with migrated leadership can improve compliance and team engagement. January 27, 2016
Criminalisation of unintentional error in healthcare in the UK: a perspective from New Zealand. April 24, 2019
The contribution of labelling to safe medication administration in anaesthetic practice. June 15, 2011
Multimodal system designed to reduce errors in recording and administration of drugs in anaesthesia: prospective randomised clinical evaluation. October 5, 2011
Anaesthetic drug administration as a potential contributor to healthcare-associated infections: a prospective simulation-based evaluation of aseptic techniques in the administration of anaesthetic drugs. August 15, 2012
World Health Organization-World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists (WHO-WFSA) International Standards for a Safe Practice of Anesthesia. May 23, 2018
A surgical safety checklist to reduce morbidity and mortality in a global population. January 21, 2009
Quality improvement in healthcare in New Zealand. Part 2: are our patients safe--and what are we doing about it? August 16, 2006
A retrospective audit of postoperative days alive and out of hospital, including before and after implementation of the WHO surgical safety checklist. February 2, 2022
Facilitated self-reported anaesthetic medication errors before and after implementation of a safety bundle and barcode-based safety system. February 13, 2019
The missing evidence: a systematic review of patients' experiences of adverse events in health care. October 28, 2015
Patient complaints about hospital services: applying a complaint taxonomy to analyse and respond to complaints. June 8, 2016
Changes in safety attitude and relationship to decreased postoperative morbidity and mortality following implementation of a checklist-based surgical safety intervention. February 9, 2011
A prospective, observational study of the effects of implementation strategy on compliance with a surgical safety checklist. October 30, 2013
Patients' reports of adverse events: a data linkage study of Australian adults aged 45 years and over. September 6, 2017
Implementation of a mock root cause analysis to provide simulated patient safety training. December 20, 2017
Towards safer, better healthcare: harnessing the natural properties of complex sociotechnical systems. March 4, 2009
The impact of trained assistance on error rates in anaesthesia: a simulation-based randomised controlled trial. February 25, 2009
A new infusion syringe label system designed to reduce task complexity during drug preparation. June 27, 2007
Enabling a learning healthcare system with automated computer protocols that produce replicable and personalized clinician actions. August 4, 2021
The co-design, implementation and evaluation of a serious board game 'PlayDecide patient safety' to educate junior doctors about patient safety and the importance of reporting safety concerns October 2, 2019
Using co-design to develop a collective leadership intervention for healthcare teams to improve safety culture. September 12, 2018
Direct observation of depression screening: identifying diagnostic error and improving accuracy through unannounced standardized patients. May 1, 2020
Managing the prevention of retained surgical instruments: what is the value of counting? January 9, 2008
Adapting cognitive task analysis to investigate clinical decision making and medication safety incidents. September 18, 2019
Validation of new ICD-10-based patient safety indicators for identification of in-hospital complications in surgical patients: a study of diagnostic accuracy. September 11, 2019
Associations between double-checking and medication administration errors: a direct observational study of paediatric inpatients. August 26, 2020
Inappropriate dosing of direct oral anticoagulants in patients with atrial fibrillation. April 28, 2021
Incidence, duration and risk factors associated with delayed and missed diagnostic opportunities related to tuberculosis: a population-based longitudinal study. March 24, 2021
Care coordination strategies and barriers during medication safety incidents: a qualitative, cognitive task analysis. March 10, 2021
Adverse events among emergency department patients with cardiovascular conditions: a multicenter study. March 10, 2021
Provider-patient communication and hospital ratings: perceived gaps and forward thinking about the effects of COVID-19. December 16, 2020
Burnout and sources of stress among health care risk managers and patient safety personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic: a pilot study. July 7, 2021
Measuring safety in older adult care homes: a scoping review of the international literature. May 19, 2021
Changes in weekend and weekday care quality of emergency medical admissions to 20 hospitals in England during implementation of the 7-day services national health policy. November 25, 2020
Effect of pharmacist email alerts on concurrent prescribing of opioids and benzodiazepines by prescribers and primary care managers: a randomized clinical trial. October 26, 2022
Patient safety for people experiencing advanced dementia in hospital: a video reflexive ethnography. July 19, 2023
Does seasonal variation in orthopaedic trauma volume correlate with adverse hospital events and burnout? August 31, 2022
Barriers and facilitators to improving patient safety learning systems: a systematic review of qualitative studies and meta-synthesis. April 19, 2023
Frequency and types of patient-reported errors in electronic health record ambulatory care notes. July 1, 2020
Effect of an Electronic Medication Reconciliation Intervention on Adverse Drug Events: A Cluster Randomized Trial October 16, 2019
A patient and family reporting system for perceived ambulatory note mistakes: experience at 3 U.S. healthcare centers. September 25, 2019
Exploring relationships between hospital patient safety culture and Consumer Reports safety scores. March 15, 2017
A patient feedback reporting tool for OpenNotes: implications for patient–clinician safety and quality partnerships. January 11, 2017
Inappropriate opioid dosing and prescribing for children: an unintended consequence of the clinical pain score? December 7, 2016
Effects of a communication-and-resolution program on hospitals' malpractice claims and costs. December 19, 2018
A new frontier in healthcare risk management: working to reduce avoidable patient suffering. February 24, 2016
Higher quality of care and patient safety associated with better NICU work environments. September 2, 2015
Medication-administration errors in an urban mental health hospital: a direct observation study. March 11, 2015
Providers contextualise care more often when they discover patient context by asking: meta-analysis of three primary data sets. March 2, 2016
What would you ideally do if there were no targets? An ethnographic study of the unintended consequences of top-down governance in two clinical settings. March 23, 2016
Sociocultural factors influencing incident reporting among physicians and nurses: understanding frames underlying self- and peer-reporting practices. October 15, 2014
Exploring the role of communications in quality improvement: a case study of the 1000 Lives Campaign in NHS Wales. May 27, 2015
Patient–doctor continuity and diagnosis of cancer: electronic medical records study in general practice. May 13, 2015
The interpretability of doctor identification badges in UK hospitals: a survey of nurses and patients. June 25, 2014
Barriers and success factors to the implementation of a multi-site prospective adverse event surveillance system. July 23, 2014
Association of opioid prescriptions from dental clinicians for US adolescents and young adults with subsequent opioid use and abuse. January 9, 2019
An opportunity to engage obstetrics and gynecology patients through shared visit notes. June 26, 2019
The effect of hospital-acquired Clostridium difficile infection on in-hospital mortality. November 17, 2010
Wrong-site and wrong-patient procedures in the Universal Protocol era: analysis of a prospective database of physician self-reported occurrences. October 27, 2010
An educational intervention for contextualizing patient care and medical students' abilities to probe for contextual issues in simulated patients. October 6, 2010
Interview In Conversation with... Joan Stanley about The Role of Undergraduate Nursing Education in Patient Safety November 27, 2023
Evaluation of policies limiting opioid exposure on opioid prescribing and patient pain in opioid-naive patients undergoing elective surgery in a large American health system. March 8, 2023
A systems analysis of work-related violence in hospitals: stakeholders, contributory factors, and leverage points. February 22, 2023
A blueprint for success: implementation of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services mandated anesthesiology oversight for procedural sedation in a large health system. June 15, 2022
Moving beyond the weekend effect: how can we best target interventions to improve patient care? June 30, 2021
Effects of nurse-to-patient ratio legislation on nurse staffing and patient mortality, readmissions, and length of stay: a prospective study in a panel of hospitals. June 2, 2021
Hastened death due to disease burden and distress that has not received timely, quality palliative care is a medical error. August 12, 2020
Medical error in the care of the unrepresented: disclosure and apology for a vulnerable patient population. September 25, 2019
'Poking the skunk': ethical and medico-legal concerns in research about patients' experiences of medical injury. July 17, 2019
Criminalisation of unintentional error in healthcare in the UK: a perspective from New Zealand. April 24, 2019
Use of a public health law framework to improve medication safety by anesthesia providers. March 20, 2019
Can communication-and-resolution programs achieve their potential? Five key questions. December 19, 2018
Challenges and opportunities for improving patient safety through human factors and systems engineering. December 5, 2018