I welcome full discclosure. Doctors are human and they make mistakes. They can also apologize. Fin.

At least if they admit their mistake early on, there may be a better chance of correcting it. Depending on the severity of the situation, I would think at least at times the effect of the error may be reversible. I'm afraid it's more likely that in reality more often than not they will not only try to cover it up, but even when seeking a second opinion, other doctors will be hesitant to admit their coleague's mistake and very unlikely to ever point it out.

I have to agree w/ you completely. People are people and they aren't perfect. I would be more angry if a doctor hid behind lawyers instead of owning up to what they did wrong (depending on the severity of the situation) and just saying that they were sorry, because most people are pretty reasonable.