Advocates call for abandoning ‘second victim’ term for doctors involved in medical error

Some patients and family members of those affected by medical error are calling for the health care community to abandon the term “second victim” when referring to doctors involved in such cases. The term was coined in 2000 to help bring attention to the emotional support that physicians need after medical error, but the authors of a new editorial in the BMJ say the term has since taken off in unexpected ways, including overshadowing the needs of harmed patients and families. By continuing to use the term, medical professionals also “subtly promote the belief that patient harm is random, caused by bad luck, and simply not preventable,” the authors write.