Sir, – In light of the criticism by Justice Mary Irvine, the HSE should consider a practice adopted by the University of Michigan Health System whereby the university acknowledges wrongdoing before medical malpractice litigation commences if the university agrees that a medical error occurred. (Home News, December 4th) .
Earlier this year, the university reported that medical malpractice actions against it have dropped from 2.13 actions per 100,000 patients to approximately 0.75 since it adopted the practice.
Not only does a timely acknowledgment of negligence begin the emotional healing for the patient, it also relieves the responsible doctor of the emotional burden of defending the indefensible. – Yours, etc,
DOMHNALL Ó’CATHÁIN,
Knickerbocker Road,
Tenafly,
New Jersey, US.