How Not To Apologize

“To the extent that I made judgments that ultimately proved to be incorrect [emphasis mine], I apologize to the three students that were wrongly accused.”

–former Durham County DA Mike Nifong

Thanks for the lesson, Mr. Nifong. And I think it would be more appropriate to use “who” instead of “that.”

3 Comments

  1. Mike the Eyeguy

    I once knew an ophthalmologist who did cataract surgery on a patient’s wrong eye. The patient was understandably upset. But the ophthalmologist didn’t run away–he took his medicine, apologized sincerely, held her hand when she cried and ultimately she allowed him to operate on the correct eye.

    And she never even talked about suing him.

    I knew another ophthalmologist who didn’t mess up that badly, but still had a track record of less-than-desirable outcomes. Rather than commiserating with his patients, he ran away and hid, was surly when confronted, and never, ever, under any circumstances accepted responsibility for the situation.

    He got sued a lot.

    Just a thought, Mr. Nifong.

  2. JRB

    As a one-time medical malpractice defense attorney, I give that assessment a hardy, “Amen.”

  3. Mike the Eyeguy

    I’m a master at mea culpas. So far, no lawsuits (or lawyers in suits).

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