The news is nearly two years old, that Kent Hospital in Warwick, R.I. settled a suit by actor James Woods over his 49-year-old brother's Emergency Room death. But it is still quite something to hear the hospital CEO Sandra Coletta say out loud before an audience of hundreds that she apologized for what happened and that "Quite honestly, I did nothing other than what my mother taught me." The issue of medical apologies is particularly relevant right now in Massachusetts, where the next wave of health reform is expected to include legal changes to help spur more of them. Coletta spoke in Boston at the 10th annual dinner of MITSS, Medically Induced Trama Support Services, a widely respected group that aims to support patients, families, and staffs after things go medically wrong.
