Legal Case StudyAfter reviewing a medical error on a 62-year-old woman with skin cancer who had wrong-site surgery, I will summarize the legal and liability aspects of this case, as well as explore the legal and ethical implications of error disclosure. Additionally, I will discuss the pros and cons of having the provider disclose the error and empathize with the patient. Finally, I will identify ways that nursing leaders can learn from this situation, help prevent similar types of medical errors from occurring, and assist providers and the organization to effectively disseminate information to patients after a medical error. Legal Issues The closest definition to medical error would come from the Institute of Medicine stating “the failure of a planned action to be completed as intended…” (Thomas, 2009, p. 671). In this case the error appears to be a system problem and not just one person (in this case the surgeon). A medical error has occurred: surgery in the wrong location. In conclusion, the standard of care was not met. If we refer to the legal consequences of this case from the patient's point of view, we would be talking about the consequences of surgery in the wrong location. These issues would be the time delay for corrective surgery (this procedure was for removal of cancerous tissue), the pain suffered by the patient (from having undergone two separate procedures), and the unfair disfigurement of the patient's face as she has the potential to have an additional scar at the wrong site surgery. In order to encourage physicians to provide complete patient information after an adverse event, there are 35 states that have enacted laws that make expressions of sympathy following an error impermissible in court to demonstrate liability. This is reference...... middle of the document ....... Works CitedBender, FFJ (2007, April). "I'm sorry" laws and medical liability. Virtual Mentor, 9(4), 300-304.Dillion, K.A. (2008, September). Time out: an analysis. AORN Journal, 88(3), 437-442.Fowler, M.D.M. (2010). Guide to the code of ethics for nurses. Silver Spring, MD: American Nurses Association.O'Reilly, K.B. (2010, February). “I'm sorry”: why is it so difficult for doctors to say it? American Medical News.O'Rourke, P. T., & Hershey, K. M. (2007, October). The power of "sorry". The Hospitalist.QuPS.org: Quality and patient safety. (2011). In Florida the public and private policy of medical errors and patient safety. Retrieved from http://qups.org/med_errors.php?c=individual_state&s=10&t=10Thomas, H.G.M. (2009, August 12). A 62-year-old woman with skin cancer who had surgery at the wrong site. Journal of the American Medical Association, 302(6).