Grand Rounds

I never thought I'd do this.

In the hope that there is a future to transparency about medical errors and the response to them, I encourage everyone to visit Paul Levy's place, host of this week's Grand Rounds -- a rotating carnival of the best of the medical blogosphere.

Levy put out this call:

In the spirit of Dr. Ernest Codman, I asked doctors, nurses, and other providers to write about incidents in which they made or were present for a medical error. What were the circumstances, and what did you do in response to the situation? How did you feel about the event, and how did it change your practice of medicine afterward.

Likewise, I asked patients who have been the victim of, or loved-ones who have seen, clinical harm to tell their stories. How did your provider(s) respond, how has the event has changed your view of the practice of medicine, and what advice you would give to the profession?

I don't know that I will ever regain my faith -- not in medical professionals (I mean, really, who cares?) -- but in humanity. We saw the ugly, mean, and criminal side of people, and it has scarred and damaged me far more than any actual cutting into my body. I lost my health, my career, my savings, my friends; I gained a life of constant pain, worry, and despair.