The Surgical Mistake That Changed a Doctor’s Life: Dr. David Mayer on Honesty and Patient Safety

CEO of the Patient Safety Movement Foundation Show notes: https://www.markgraban.com/mistake70 My guest for Episode #70 is Dr. David B. Mayer. He is both the Chief Executive Officer of the Patient Safety Movement Foundation and Executive Director of MedStar Institute for Quality and Safety. In today's episode, Dave shares a compelling story from his time as an anesthesia resident. What happened after the surgeon cut into the wrong side of the patient? Was the coverup worse than the crime? What did Dave learn from this incident and the pressure to keep quiet? How has this inspired him to be a patient safety leader? Questions and topics include: Lectures now about how to respond to harm… how do the students react? The book Wall of Silence about the harm caused by medical errors Patients want the truth – parallels to the Garrison Brothers episode CANDOR program How do mistakes like this happen? Culture? Feeling safe to speak up? Can’t just demand candor? Just Culture His ZERO hat — How many patients are harmed or killed by preventable medical error each year? “Moon Shot?” Video What would you do if you were made Patient Safety Czar? 1) Committee to talk about the moon shot 2) National patient safety authority like NHTSA or aviation 3) Incentives better aligned around patient safety & quality 4) Transparency --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/favorite-mistake/support