Déclarer un évènement indésirable associé aux soins, une responsabilité professionnelle du soignant tiraillée entre éthique, morale et juridique

Every day, adverse clinical events occur within our health care system. This paper focuses particularly on legal and ethical questions raised by the report of serious adverse events (SAE). The error reporting system, which is in France a mandatory reporting system, is designed to provide information in order to avoid repetition of the medical accident, by developing corrective and preventive actions. However, the report may lead to reveal a human error or malpractice that may result in sanctions. The threat of punishment may lead medical staff to avoid reporting hence suppressing moral and ethical obligation of disclosing medical errors in order to improve quality and safety of care. The definition of professional responsibility as integrating these two aspects, on one hand the pride of developing its own expertise and on the other to face accusations of alleged error or misconduct, helps to overcome the dilemma.