It’s a common premise: Doctors protect other doctors.
It’s the reason why Lars Aanning, M.D., says he was called to the witness stand about 15 years ago by his partner’s attorney in a malpractice case.
Now Aanning, 77, a retired South Dakota surgeon, says he lied on the witness stand when the attorney asked him if he knew of any time his partner’s work had been substandard. Aanning, who is now a patient safety advocate, talked about that decision and how it haunted him, in an interview with NPR.
He originally wrote about his decision in a column for his local newspaper and then he posted the article “A Surgeon’s Belated Confession” in ProPublica’s Patient Safety Facebook group. At the time, Aanning said he didn’t want to be “a squealer” and therefore lied to protect his partner. His partner’s patient suffered a stroke and permanent disability after undergoing surgery. Aanning, in fact, had doubts about his partner’s skill and seen other patients who had been injured in procedures, according to the interview. The jury found his partner innocent of the malpractice charge.
There's no way to tell how often doctors lie to protect their colleagues, according to the publication. A study published last spring found that medical errors are the third leading cause of death in the United States. Some in the healthcare industry have challenged that figure, while others urge providers to stop making excuses and work to cut back on the number of preventable errors.
Despite the growing patient safety movement, there is still a cultural attitude that doctors support their colleagues at all costs, Aanning said.