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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: i-node who wrote (502947)	8/9/2009 5:44:36 PM
From: J_F_Shepard	Respond to of 1575422

How would deaths due to hospital mistakes affect the "best healthcare system" in the world??? 100-200,000 die in the US from hospital mistakes... Other industrialized nations don't come close...UK is about 4,000 wrongdiagnosis.com "How Common Are Medical Mistakes? They are too common. Although exact estimates are difficult to find, it is not surprising that an industry as stretched, complex, and burdened as the medical industry is fraught with errors. Many errors go unreported and tracking their exact prevalence is difficult. Nevertheless, bearing in mind that about 2.5 million deaths occur annually in the USA, here are some of the statistics and death rate estimates from various reports: * 42% of people believed they had personally experienced a medical mistake (NPSF survey) * 44,000 to 98,000 deaths annually from medical errors (Institute of Medicine) * 225,000 deaths annually from medical errors including 106,000 deaths due to "nonerror adverse events of medications" (Starfield) * 180,000 deaths annually from medication errors and adverse reactions (Holland) * 20,000 annually to 88,000 deaths annually from nosocomial infections * 2.9 to 3.7 percent of hospitalizations leading to adverse medication reactions * 7,391 deaths resulted from medication errors (Institute of Medicine) * 2.4 to 3.6 percent of hospital admissions were due to (prescription) medication events (Australian study) Various studies have been performed about medical errors. A phone survey by the National Patient Safety Foundation found that 42% of people believed they had experienced a medical error personally or to a relative or friend. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) reports on two studies estimating the hospital deaths due to medical errors at 44,000 to 98,000 annually, which would place medical errors in the top ten causes of death in the USA. Barbara Starfield's article in JAMA places the estimates even higher, citing a total of 225,000 deaths due to iatrogenic causes, which would place health-caused deaths as the 3rd leading cause of death in the USA. Holland et al (1997) estimates as many as 1 million patients are injured while in the hospital and approximately 180,000 die as a result, with the majority due to medication adverse reactions. Nosocomial infections caught during a hospital stay are also common, although these are not necessarily due to an identifiable error by medical personnel. On the other hand, many nosocomial infections would be prevented if hospital staff placed greater emphasis on preventive measures such as hand washing and sterilization. Estimates of nosocomial infections are as high as 2 million case annually or about 10% of hospital patients in the USA. Death rate estimates range from 20,000 annually to 88,000 deaths annually. The cost burden may be as high as $4.5 billion annually.

To: i-node who wrote (502947)	8/9/2009 5:52:12 PM
From: bentway	2 Recommendations Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1575422

"We eat more fast/junk food per capita than any nation on earth. We lead more sedentary lifestyles. We have the most overweight society on earth." All of these should be health care issues.