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Politics : GOPwinger Lies/Distortions/Omissions/Perversions of Truth -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: fresc who wrote (38676)	3/2/2005 5:54:33 PM
From: jttmab	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 173976

Liability reform is start. Why start with liability reform? It's small potatoes and won't make any difference. [0.4% reduction in insurance is some little fraction of overall health care costs.] How about starting here.... In Hospital Deaths from Medical Errors at 195,000 per Year USA 09 Aug 2004 An average of 195,000 people in the USA died due to potentially preventable, in-hospital medical errors in each of the years 2000, 2001 and 2002, according to a new study of 37 million patient records that was released today by HealthGrades, the healthcare quality company. The HealthGrades Patient Safety in American Hospitals study is the first to look at the mortality and economic impact of medical errors and injuries that occurred during Medicare hospital admissions nationwide from 2000 to 2002. The HealthGrades study applied the mortality and economic impact models developed by Dr. Chunliu Zhan and Dr. Marlene R. Miller in a research study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in October of 2003. The Zhan and Miller study supported the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) 1999 report conclusion, which found that medical errors caused up to 98,000 deaths annually and should be considered a national epidemic. The HealthGrades study finds nearly double the number of deaths from medical errors found by the 1999 IOM report “To Err is Human,” with an associated cost of more than $6 billion per year. Whereas the IOM study extrapolated national findings based on data from three states, and the Zhan and Miller study looked at 7.5 million patient records from 28 states over one year, HealthGrades looked at three years of Medicare data in all 50 states and D.C. This Medicare population represented approximately 45 percent of all hospital admissions (excluding obstetric patients) in the U.S. from 2000 to 2002..... medicalnewstoday.com Medical Errors - A Leading Cause of Death The JOURNAL of the AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION (JAMA) Vol 284, No 4, July 26th 2000 article written by Dr Barbara Starfield, MD, MPH, of the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health, shows that medical errors may be the third leading cause of death in the United States. The report apparently shows there are 2,000 deaths/year from unnecessary surgery; 7000 deaths/year from medication errors in hospitals; 20,000 deaths/year from other errors in hospitals; 80,000 deaths/year from infections in hospitals; 106,000 deaths/year from non-error, adverse effects of medications - these total up to 225,000 deaths per year in the US from iatrogenic causes which ranks these deaths as the # 3 killer. Iatrogenic is a term used when a patient dies as a direct result of treatments by a physician, whether it is from misdiagnosis of the ailment or from adverse drug reactions used to treat the illness. (drug reactions are the most common cause). cancure.org If the M.D.s didn't kill nearly 200,000 people a year, maybe their malpractice insurance would be lower. jttmab

To: fresc who wrote (38676)	3/2/2005 6:38:15 PM
From: jttmab	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 173976

In addition to the costs of those 195,000 deaths per year, there's also the additional medical care required for all those people they screw up with medical errors that no one has even begun to estimate. But enough on medical incompetence. Took me a bit to figure out the correct search string to dig this one out again.... Study Finds Inefficiency in Health Care By MILT FREUDENHEIM Warning that a surge in costs threatens to swamp the employer-subsidized health system within a decade, a new study by a group representing large employers says that $390 billion a year is being wasted on outmoded and inefficient medical procedures. The costs pile up from several sources, according to the study, which is being published today. Among them is the overuse of surgical procedures, tests and medicines; the failure to routinely provide flu and pneumonia vaccines or appropriate tests and follow-up medicines for heart and diabetes patients; and inadequate screening for breast cancer, depression and certain venereal diseases. "Poor quality in health care costs the typical employer an estimated $1,700 to $2,000 for each covered employee each year," said Jim Mortimer, president of the Midwest Business Group on Health, sponsor of the study. That was about a third of the $4,900 spent for each employee on health care last year. The Juran Institute, an industrial management consulting firm, estimated the costs, drawing on information from hospitals, health policy experts and published research. The study urges companies and health plans to press for quality improvements by hospitals and doctors. "You don't see the cost of poor quality until you go look for it," said Joseph A. DeFeo, chief executive of Juran. "If a surgical procedure takes two hours more at one hospital than another, you don't see it. We hope this opens people's eyes.".... nytimes.com Why on earth do we want to start with liability reform when the medical industry reeks with incompetence and gross inefficiencies? jttmab