To Err is Human
Date: Nov. 29, 1999
Contacts: Neil Tickner, Media Relations Officer Megan O'Neill, Media Relations Assistant
(202) 334-2138; e-mail <news@nas.edu>
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Preventing Death and Injury From Medical Errors Requires Dramatic, System-Wide Changes
WASHINGTON - Reducing one of the nation's leading causes of death and injury - medical errors - will require rigorous changes throughout the health care system, including mandatory reporting requirements, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academies. The report lays out a comprehensive strategy for government, industry, consumers, and health providers to reduce medical errors, and it calls on Congress to create a national patient safety center to develop new tools and systems needed to address persistent problems.
The human cost of medical errors is high. Based on the findings of one major study, medical errors kill some 44,000 people in U.S. hospitals each year. Another study puts the number much higher, at 98,000. Even using the lower estimate, more people die from medical mistakes each year than from highway accidents, breast cancer, or AIDS.
www4.nationalacademies.org
To Err is Human: Building A Safer Health System
books.nap.edu
Best O'Luck,
Tom |
