Abstract

We say that celebrated accidents shape public perception of safety and risk in health care. Take the so-called celebrated story of the three Colorado nurses who, by administering bezathine penicillin intravenously, caused the death of a neonate. The nurses were charged with criminal negligence, with one pleading guilty to a reduced charge and another fighting the charge and eventually being exonerated. “Celebrated” accidents seem to follow a predictable script and cast participants in recognizable roles. They present heroes, survivors, and victims. And, of course, they put villains, or anti-heroes, center stage – the chief protagonists of a fatal plot.