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Previous Volume 353:324 July 21, 2005 Number 3

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By John D. Banja. 229 pp. Sudbury, Mass., Jones and Bartlett, 2005. $49.95. ISBN 0-7637-8361-7.

Why do physicians have such a difficult time talking to their patients about errors made in the course of patient care? This is the main question posed in John Banja's carefully written and useful book. The answer, the author suggests, is primarily "medical narcissism," a muted version of the narcissistic personality that, in many ways, also helps physicians do their difficult work.

Banja suggests that medical narcissists may find the disclosure of an error to be too much of a challenge to their self-image of competence, control, and "treatment-oriented focus." Hence, they have a tendency to rationalize the error as . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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