In Ohio and elsewhere, 80 percent of medical errors go unreported and are unaccounted for. Sometimes these deadly mistakes see no consequences. A new initiative could change this.

One father grieves what would have been his daughter's twelfth birthday this year. He won't get the chance to celebrate with her because a doctor error fatally delayed what would have been a life-saving procedure. "I don't want another family to go through a living hell that I live every day," said the girl's father.

In Boston, several area hospitals are attempting an experiment with the way in which they handle medical errors. The new initiative has been dubbed the "Disclosure, Apology Offer." The premise is just as the name sounds — the medical staff would be completely upfront about the error that occurred, pay for the mistake as quickly as possible and apologize.

This sounds like a logical method that should already be in place, but often that isn't the course of action in the event of a medical error. Often, in the event of a suspected medical error, doctors stop talking leaving the patient in the dark. This initiative would radically alter that and could save time, money and pain surrounding costly litigation. Furthermore, this transparency would hopefully drastically cut down on the reported 80 percent of medical errors that go unreported across the country, including in Ohio.

However, if this initiative was implemented in Ohio, patients need not necessarily accept the offer extended by the at-fault hospital in the event of a doctor error. In the event of such an error, the patient deserves fair compensation for their suffering and should fight for it until they feel an equitable settlement has been reached.

Source: NECN, "Medical Malpractice Experiment," April 18, 2012