Mea culpa,mea culpa: a call for privilege for self-disclosure of error in the setting of primary medical education

Medical errors cause 44,000 to 98,000 deaths per year, which is due, in part, to the lack of privileged self-reporting systems. Such systems are of great value to the medical community, especially to new doctors and to medical students. Nonetheless, because documents produced for self-reporting conferences and statements made against self-interest are admissible in court, many observers believe that doctors are discouraged from self-reporting errors. The author proposes the creation of a new medical self-disclosure privilege to protect and promote self-reporting systems, which will lead to a reduction in medical errors.