Patients Pledge to Fight Medical Error

The first Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) workshop on Patients for Patient Safety, held in San Francisco on May 8–10, drew participants from Argentina, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Mexico, Peru and the United States. They included patients who have suffered from medical errors, family members of patients, lawyers, a journalist, and health professionals dedicated to the cause of patient safety.

José Luis Di Fabio, head of PAHO's Technology and Health Services Delivery program, welcomed the participants and their commitment to improving medical practice.

"Patients and their families are the ones who suffer when things go wrong," said Di Fabio. "Health professionals may at first resist their involvement in corrective efforts, but we have to listen to what they say and learn from their experiences."

Participants in the workshop shared compelling personal stories about the harmful consequences of lapses in patient safety and their efforts to redress the problems.

Evangelina Vásquez, of Mexico, told how her son, Uriel, suffered neonatal jaundice shortly after birth, and how her pleas for medical attention were dismissed by health care providers. The untreated jaundice produced a type of irreversible brain damage known as kernicterus. Vásquez took her case to Mexico's National Commission on Human Rights and won a favorable decision.

Alicia Herrera, another participant from Mexico, told how she had suffered extreme pain and permanent disfigurement and disabilityas a result of faulty administration of anesthesia prior to a tooth extraction. Herrera wrote a book about her ordeal, The Face of Medical Negligence: Do You Want to See My Face?

Alfonso Maldonado, of Peru, lost his 13year-old son Augusto to what he says was a series of medical errors and reprisals for his parents' complaints, including a poorly performed biopsy, a delayed pathology report, denial of care, overmedication, and withholding of treatment.

"My son is with God now," said Maldonado, "but we continue to struggle for all the children and old people who experience even worse things, because their voices are not heard."

Sue Sheridan, head of Patients for Patient Safety, part of WHO's World Alliance for Patient Safety, told how her son and husband were both victims of medical error. "The challenge is not to place blame or to punish people, but to prevent errors from occurring in the first place. That requires more transparency in health care systems and more willingness on the part of health care providers to confront problems."

The Patients for Patient Safety workshop was held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the National Patient Safety Foundation (USA). The workshop received support from the Canadian Patient Safety Institute, Consumers Advancing Patient Safety, the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Partnership for Patient Safety, the American Hospital Association, the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, and Joint Commission Resources, Inc.