{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.018924302788844622, 'fraction_numerical': 0.0, 'mean_word_length': 4.9614243323442135, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Should fear of litigation prevent medical practitioners being open with patients about mistakes?

fear of litigation was one of the factors preventing openness in the medical profession and recommended that clinical negligence litigation be abolished. There may be other reasons for questioning whether reform or abolition of clinical negligence litigation is desirable. It would also be appropriate to consider whether abolition of litigation would in fact lead to a new climate of openness. However, I would like to focus on the apparent relationship between the threat of litigation and the lack of openness about mistakes, not least because as a lawyer acting for patients, I would be concerned if I believed that what I do is detrimental to the health service as a whole. Why should the threat of litigation prevent doctors being open with patients? What possible justification can there be? The only reason I can think of is a financial one. For claims against NHS institutions, since the health budget is limited and compensation payments therefore reduce the funds available for other treatment, it might be thought to be desirable to avoid alerting patients in the hope that a claim will not be made. Similarly, for non-NHS claims, it might be felt to be appropriate to keep claims to a minimum, thereby limiting insurance premiums (and allowing more doctors to practice). In other words, the individual patient’s need for compensation is sacrificed for the benefit of the rest of the community (without his/her knowledge). This argument has (at best) a doubtful ethical basis. Some medical mistakes cause lifelong injury and financial hardship for patients or their families – can it be morally justifiable to exploit their ignorance to seek to deny them a remedy? Can it be consistent with the medical practitioner’s duty to act in the patient’s best interest? Equally important, in practice, a failure to inform a patient about a mistake is likely to be counterproductive for a number of reasons: