Professor of Surgery Emeritus, and Chair of the Surgical Ethics Working Group at the HMS Center for Bioethics, Douglas W. Hanto, MD, PhD, MBE, spoke to WBUR's Radio Boston about last week's Boston Globe Spotlight investigation, which showed that New Hampshire surgeon Yvon Baribeau settled 21 medical malpractice claims and set a record for the U.S. physician with the most settlements involving surgical deaths in the last two decades. Hanto called Baribeau's case "way beyond the pale," and said that Baribeau's lengthy tenure as a practicing surgeon "was a failure of the system." Hanto explains how safeguards should have protected Baribeau's patients from harm.
