Doctors typically think about medical errors as potential causes of malpractice litigation, as failures by individuals, & as evidence of personal incompetence that may deserve sanctions. Other professions take a different view: designing of safer systems, rather than criticism & punishment, is the way to prevent unintentional mishaps. Janofsky’s article shows how psychiatrists can think about making care systems safer for patients & provides an example of how forensic psychiatrists should conceptualize legal & medical problems encountered in clinical practice. (22 refs.)