Letters should not exceed 200 words in length and may be edited for clarity. The article by Michael Robin et al in the summer 1998 issue of The Medical Journal of Allina presented a case for physician apology for a medical mistake, leading to the possibility of forgiveness and reconciliation. This is a splendid process and one that I think often happens, but it is not practical for many, possibly most, physician-patient interactions. The approach is predicated on an established, ongoing relationship between the physician who made the mistake and the patient.
Many interactions are episodic and without the expectation of further contact.
Indeed, in my own specialty, emergency medicine, further contact is unusual. Technological requirements also fragment care. He does poorly. His poor outcome might be unavoidable or might be because of slowness of treatment, poor selection of treatment, or technical errors. The question of error is ambiguous and no single physician had complete responsibility for management.