Henry Norwood, Esq., quoted in article: President’s Group on Patient Safety Publishes Recommendations, in Healthcare Risk Management, 11-1-2023

The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) recently released its findings and recommendations on patient safety in a report that outlines how “patient safety is an urgent national public health issue.” …

The report identifies several key issues implicated in the U.S. medical error problem but does not address the nearly identical, stalled effort that was made to reform patient safety years prior — the National Medical Error Disclosure and Compensation (MEDiC) Act, says Henry Norwood, JD, an attorney with Kaufman Dolowich in San Francisco. Patients and providers are necessary stakeholders in any realistic effort to improve patient safety nationwide. Unfortunately, the report does not make recommendations regarding provider liability, a key issue that would prevent willing disclosure of medical errors, Norwood notes.  “While the report spotlights important factors in the medical error problem, which deserve national recognition, the lack of clear steps for the executive office to take and exclusion of medical malpractice reform from the recommendations suggest the report will face similar opposition from stakeholders as the MEDiC Act and have little impact on the medical error problem,” Norwood concludes.

Read more at the full article.