Disclosure and prevention of medical errors

Medical errors occur and are sometimes unavoidable. Physicians generally, but not always, have ethical and moral obligations to disclose their errors to the patient. Because common medical errors can be expected, physicians are obligated to work within health systems toward reducing systems flaws that promote errors. However, the obligations of physicians to disclose errors made by others are less clear. This article discusses the professional ethics involved in disclosing and preventing medical errors.