Medical errors are under the media microscope Medical error. Two words that send a chill down the spine of every health care giver as well as every health care recipient.
Medical errors are much in the news of late.
A report from the Institute of Medicine released last fall gave the media the motivation to chase down dramatic stories that would grip every reader. Newspapers and magazines went after the gory details of errors that occurred during surgery, errors in ordering or administering medication, errors during routine treatment. The Lewiston Sunday paper published a medical errors report in February and the Portland Sunday Telegram plans to publish a series on medical errors in March. The focus of these articles is what goes wrong in our hospitals. We need to remember that there is a whole lot more that goes right.