ABSTRACT
Most physicians and patients agree that errors should be disclosed to patients and their families. A major barrier to disclosure is fear of litigation on the part of the physician. Some states, now including Missouri, have adopted so-called "apology laws", which are designed to facilitate disclosure by making certain statements of apology inadmissible as evidence in a court case. Some institutions have implemented "full-disclosure" programs with reportedly promising results. This article will review apology law in Missouri, and will discuss its implications for medical practice and for the disclosure of errors.
Subject(s)
Disclosure/legislation & jurisprudence , Medical Errors , Communication , Humans , Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations/legislation & jurisprudence , Liability, Legal , Missouri , Physician-Patient Relations , United StatesABSTRACT
UNLABELLED: The University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine opened officially in 1971, offering a combined BA/MD in a six-year program. The program has a defined goal of offering humanities courses throughout the curriculum. The Sirridge Office of Medical Humanities was established in 1992, and it assumed the responsibility of developing conveniently scheduled courses in medical humanities, making more specific requirements for such courses in the medical curriculum. The goal of these courses has been to provide students a different way of looking at things by giving them insight into the ways that reading literature and writing stories helps medical students better read patient experiences. A course entitled " LITERATURE: A Healing Art" was first offered in 1992. In 1994, The Body Image in Medicine and the Arts course was added. With the help of a Culpeper grant in 1995, five interdisciplinary undergraduate courses were created. In 1999 Medicine, LITERATURE, and Law was developed from two previous courses. Bioethics is offered as part of a series called Correlative Medicine and in a required course, Behavioral Science. The present director of the Office of Medical Humanities has resigned and at present there is a search for a replacement. A new director may decide to change some of the offerings and add new activities. The medical school remains committed to supporting the office and its programs in keeping with the goals of the original academic plan to educate safe and caring physicians.