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Even without health law, some reforms will stay, predicts former Obama official

A controversial former Obama health-care administrator was in Seattle this week, speaking to 1,000 people about what can be learned from medical mistakes--saying patient safety should be an ethical imperative .

Dr. Don Berwick served temporarily as chief of the federal Medicare and Medicaid programs, but he was forced to step-down because the U.S. Senate never confirmed him. Berwick delivered the annual Birnbaum Lecture, sponsored by Group Health Research Institute. Afterward, he answered questions about medicine and politics (in the recorded interview posted above).

 

Keith Seinfeld is a former KNKX/KPLU reporter who covered health, science and the environment over his 17 years with the station. He also served as assistant news director. Prior to KLPU, he was a staff reporter at The Seattle Times and The News Tribune in Tacoma and a freelance writer-producer. His work has been honored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the Knight Science Journalism Fellowships at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.