We experienced touching stories about medical errors and were shocked by the hubris, deceit, and arrogance of the highlighted physicians. We rationalized that these people were “bad” doctors and comfortably told ourselves that we would not end up like that. We assume that doctors that make blatant errors and cause harm can’t possibly be good doctors. But how do we rationalize when the “best of the best” does it?
Waking up blind – Lawsuits Over Eye Surgery by Tom Harbin MD is a phenomenal account of one of the darkest events in ophthalmology.
http://www.amazon.com/Waking-Up-Blind-Lawsuits-Surgery/dp/1934938874
It recounts the tragedies caused by the Chairman of Ophthalmology at Emory University, one of the most powerful and esteemed professors in ophthalmic academia at the time. The story reads like a medical thriller and describes how an eminent eye surgeon blinded several patients.
The lessons in this book may further the conversations about transparency and medical errors. More importantly, it gives an alternative view to the negligent “bad” doctor causing a medical error.