If medical errors were a disease, they would be the sixth leading cause of death in America, writes surgeon Dr. Marty Makary in the Wall Street Journal.
According to the 2011 Health Grades Hospital Quality in America Study, the incidence rate of medical harm occurring in the United States is estimated to be over 40,000 harmful and/or lethal errors each and EVERY day.2
What's most shocking is that the harm often is preventable.
Shocking Medical Errors are All Too Common
Dr. Andrew Saul, co-author of Hospitals and Health: Your Orthomolecular Guide to a Shorter Hospital Stay (which is available on Amazon), recently explained that the lowest estimate makes hospitals one of the top 10 causes of deaths in the United States... and the highest estimate makes hospital and drugs the number one cause of death in the United States. Some of the top 10, and most lethal, medical mishaps are mistakes that should be extremely rare, but happen with shocking regularity:
1. Preventable Adverse Drug Reactions
An estimated 450,000 preventable medication-related adverse events of mostly correctly prescribed drugs occur in the U.S. every year. A large part of the problem is simply because so many drugs are used and prescribed – and many patients receive multiple prescriptions at varying strengths, some of which may counteract each other or cause more severe reactions when combined. Dosage errors, medication mix-ups and even giving the wrong medication to the wrong person are all too common.
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1. Preventable Adverse Drug Reactions
An estimated 450,000 preventable medication-related adverse events of mostly correctly prescribed drugs occur in the U.S. every year. A large part of the problem is simply because so many drugs are used and prescribed – and many patients receive multiple prescriptions at varying strengths, some of which may counteract each other or cause more severe reactions when combined. Dosage errors, medication mix-ups and even giving the wrong medication to the wrong person are all too common.
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This is a very informative and helpful article. Most Americans are unaware of how many patients are unnecessarily harmed while in the hospital.For example some infections such as C-Diff are almost always contracted at a hospital and patients have died from this and other Hospital Acquired Infections in our own community. And we all know someone who is under the care of many "specialists" each prescribing different medicines and the problems that often result. In addition to medical harm there is a tremendous amount of waste in the industry. A study issued this September by the Institute of Medicine concludes that about one-third of all dollars spent in health care was wasted; amounting to about $750 billion each year with unnecessary or inefficient services, excessive prices, excess administrative costs, and fraud being the biggest contributors. In so many respects there is a lack of accountability in the health care industry. The author suggests people need to be alert and informed and take measures to protect themselves or their loved ones. Sounds like good advice to me.
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