Mistakes and errors happen in most spheres of human
life and activity, including in medicine. A mistake can
be as simple and benign as the collection of an extra and
unnecessary urine sample. Or a mistake can cause serious
but reversible harm, such as an overdose of insulin in
a patient with diabetes, resulting in hypoglycemia, seizures,
and coma. Or a mistake can result in serious and permanent
damage for the patient, such as the failure to consider
epiglottitis in an initial differential diagnosis, resulting
in a chronic vegetative state for a seven-year-old boy. Or
a mistake can be an error in judgment that leads to a
patient's death.