According to a new report published The BMJ medical journal, more than 1 in 10 patients are harmed in the course of their medical care. Half of those injuries are said to be preventable. Of the preventable errors, 12 percent led to patients being permanently disabled or killed.
The study looked at 70 earlier reports and covered more than 300,000 patients.
Our study finds that most harm relates to medication, and this is one core area that preventative strategies could focus on.”
Maria Panagioti, a senior lecturer at the University of Manchester
While 49 percent of the medical injuries were considered “mild,” 36 percent were deemed “moderate,” and 12 percent classified as “severe.”
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This was an international study. Two decades ago a report from the Institute of Medicine showed that medical errors resulted in the death of 98,000 Americans each year. A recent Johns Hopkins study concludes 250,000 people in the U.S. die from medical errors yearly but other reports show numbers as high as 440,000 a year.
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If medical error was a disease, it would rank as the third leading cause of death in the U.S.”
The BMJ