The Staggering Toll of Medical Errors
The leading cause of accidental death in America is medical mistakes. About 100,000 people die each year from preventable medical errors, and 100,000 patients die from hospital-acquired infections.

December 02, 2009 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The Staggering Toll of Medical Errors

Article provided by Ronald J. Bua & Associates
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Ask someone to name the leading cause of accidental death in America. If their answer includes any of the following: guns, power tools, drowning or motorcycles, then they will be wrong. The leading cause of accidental death in America is medical mistakes.

Startling Numbers

Experts estimate that as many as 100,000 people die each year from preventable medical errors. Additionally, a federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study concluded that nearly another 100,000 patients a year die from hospital-acquired infections, which are also preventable.

Even more disturbing is the news that the rate of medical errors is actually increasing, according to an investigation published by Hearst Newspapers, despite a highly publicized federal report that exposed the alarming death toll a decade ago.

Blowing the Lid Off

The newspaper report, called ‘To Err is Human,’ calls for mandatory reporting of medical errors and systemic changes to prevent future mistakes. Other recommendations include informing the public about unsafe conditions; the creation of a national patient safety center; an improved level of safety within hospital walls; and a voluntary system for hospitals to reports and learn from errors. The Hearst Newspapers investigation has found that adoption of these recommendations by the medical community, the federal government and most states has fallen far short of expectations, or has been ignored completely.

Currently, proposed health care reform legislation by the Obama administration does not support a nationwide mandatory reporting system. Nancy-Ann DeParle, director of the White House Office of Health Reform, said, ‘If we prevent the errors from occurring, then we don’t have to worry about a massive reporting system.’

Fear of Exposure

The air of secrecy and an atmosphere of apathy surround a medical industry bent on maintaining a low profile. Deaths via medical procedural errors can happen in the privacy of an operating room, and incomplete reporting and death certificate inaccuracies may disguise information that would expose medical error as the main or contributing cause of death. ‘Medical error is often not reported,’ said Robert N. Anderson, chief of the CDC’s Mortality Statistics branch, in the Hearst report. He added that doctors aren’t given enough motivation to report medical errors.

Progress Ahead

Patient safety experts agree that mandatory reporting must be part of any discussion on making progress toward real reform, and the key elements to focus on are information and accountability. Health care legislation now before Congress needs to address the problem that is even more pressing than inadequate medical insurance, and dramatically more deadly: preventing medical errors.

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