Letters
Abandon the term “second victim”
Everyone is affected, everyone a victim
BMJ 2019; 365 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.l2160 (Published 17 May 2019) Cite this as: BMJ 2019;365:l2160
- Giuseppe Vetrugno, forensic pathologist and risk manager1,
- Fabio De-Giorgio, forensic pathologist2,
- Federica Foti, forensic pathologist1
- 1Risk Management Unit, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli—Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy
- 2Institute of Public Health, Section of Legal Medicine, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy
- giuseppe.vetrugno{at}policlinicogemelli.it
Clarkson and colleagues ask healthcare professionals to stop calling themselves “second victims” in cases of medical harm.1 What does the word “victim” mean? It comes from “victus,” a Latin term that means “defeated” or “beaten.”
When medical harm occurs, healthcare professionals have fought a battle and lost. Patients are victims, but they are …
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