Medication Error Disclosure

A medication error creates two immediate responsibilities: protect the patient from harm and communicate honestly about what happened. Those responsibilities are connected, but they are not interchangeable. An internal incident report moves information into the organisation's safety and quality system. Disclosure communicates the event, its known effects, and the plan to the patient and family. Filing one does not complete the other. Canadian patient-safety terminology separates three situations. A harmful incident reaches the patient and causes harm. A no-harm incident reaches the patient but causes no discernible harm. A near miss is intercepted before it reaches the patient. The label matters because it guides the response, but the patient's current condition matters first. A patient who appears well after receiving an incorrect insulin dose still requires assessment and monitoring; the absence of symptoms at one moment does not prove that the risk has ended. Disclosure is not a confession performed after the paperwork. It is a planned process of open communication that begins with the known facts and continues as the clinical review develops. Across Canada, providers have ethical, professional...