When the doctor says sorry
My introduction to the complex and emotional world of adverse events in health care occurred in 2001 when I chaired a committee to review an inquest report into the tragic deaths of 12 infants in a pediatric surgery program in Manitoba. Justice Murray Sinclair, who conducted the inquest, had concluded that at least five of the deaths were preventable.
Back then there was no apology law in Manitoba. Neither the Sinclair report (2000) nor the Thomas report (2001) recommended the adoption of such a law. However, in recognition of the trauma suffered by the families, the government of Manitoba covered their legal bills for the inquest, made a gratuitous monetary payment for their loss and formally apologized, all without accepting liability and without prejudice to their right to sue.
Subsequently, I learned that apology laws had already been spreading around the world. The main reason for creating such legislation was to offer some legal protection against malpractice suits for health-care professionals who wish to apologize for the preventable harm that came to patients in their care.
Apology laws have been most popular in the market-based and litigious U.S. health system, with 34 states passing laws between 1998 and 2014.