Warning for surgeons: measure twice, cut once.

Discusses the prevention of surgical errors by marking patients' bodies with a pen to designate the site of surgery. Case in a Toronto hospital in which surgeons drilled a hole in the wrong side of a patient's head; Report by neurosurgeon Mark Bernstein that a full disclosure of the error was made to the patient's family, and that no legal action has been taken; Data provided by the Canadian Medical Protective Association to the Canadian Orthopedic Association on wrong-side surgery; View that disclosing errors in surgery is ethically the right thing to do.