COMMENTARY: "Sorry" Works

The National Review editor and conservative Republican discusses what he believes is a prescription for medical-malpractice lawsuits: "Along these lines, a new organization called 'The Sorry Works! Coalition' hopes to curb lawsuits stemming from medical errors. It encourages doctors and hospitals to 'fess up when they screw up and offer fair compensation to those they have harmed. This simple idea should brighten the climate wherein doctors often fear the sick as potential litigants, while too many patients treat practitioners like unguarded pots of gold....'The majority of people who file medical lawsuits file out of anger, not greed,' says Sorry Works! founder Doug Wojcieszak. 'That anger is driven by lack of communication, being abandoned by doctors, and no one taking responsibility for his mistakes. Apologizing and offering some up-front compensation reduces this anger. Also, if doctors learn from their mistakes, they have a better chance of fixing them and not repeating them.' As Wojcieszak suggests, beyond legal and economic benefits, apology policies have clinical advantages. They preserve doctor-patient relationships, boost physician morale, and help correct errors."