Medical Errors are Fifth-Leading Cause of Death

Millennium Research Group, an authority on medical technology market intelligence, has conducted a detailed and thorough analysis of the acute care clinical information systems market, and it found that a major driver in the United States is the demand for improvement in patient safety.  Medical errors are the fifth-leading cause of deaths in the United States, with up to 98,000 deaths annually. According to the new report entitled U.S. Markets for Acute Care Clinical Information Systems, hospitals are adopting clinical information systems to help them provide adequate, timely care and reduce the frequency of preventable errors.

Source:  "Medical Error is the Fifth-Leading Cause of Death in the U.S." published by CBS-3 in Springfield, MA.

Comments

[sue law]

This is a despicable statistic.
My step-father died while been treated in hospital for a stoke.
The care he was given was terrible.
I didn't want to complain at the actual time because I was afraid the staff would get angry and take it out on my step-father when I was gone as he was unable to move too well.
I mentioned certain issues politely such as
1) Why was he surrounded by drinks and water and squash etc from the next bed's shelf when he was not allowed to drink at all as he was "nil by mouth".
Each time I visited he begged for a drink and I had to swab his mouth with a wet cloth.
The water went to his lungs and would drown him yet each day there was drinks right by his bedside.
2) No doctor spoke to me directly and told me what had specifically happened to him. They were never there at the same time as me. Occassional nurses would comment contradictory accounts.
3)I noticed a deterioration in his second week in hospital after his stroke and told the nurses but they done nothing at all.

Sadly he died the second week of a huge stroke. I never spoke to a doctor once and when he died and I arrived as usual for the days visit the nurse just gave me a phone number and told me to go to reception.
They were serving food at the time in the evening and the nurses were laughing and joking out loud and not the least bit considerate to my feelings almost deliberate I say.
When I turned up at reception they just said they knew nothing and couldn't help at all goodbye.
This seems too far fetched but it is true.
Hospitals are just like airports with people passing through and no real care at all. The staff are just temps who couldn't care less about anyone other then their paycheck at the end of the month.
I would advise anyone to get the best private care they can if they ever end up in such a position.

[WEL]

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I had eye surgery and in the post-op pack was MAXIDEX(dexamethasone) drops by Alcon Labs

Two days later I was BLIND

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[Thomas Sharon, R.N., M.P.H]

I've been writing articles about the fifth leading of death since 2004. I'm glad to know that mine was not the only voice in the wilderness.

Want to know why so many people get killed in hospitals? Here goes:

1. Broken emergency equipment;
2. Narcotic overdose;
3. Medication errors - wrong drug, wrong dose, etc.;
4. Trauma from falling out of bed;
5. Bedsores;
6. Untreated post operative hemorrhage;
7. New technology that no one knows how to operate;
8. Intravenous overload;
9. Patient abuse;
10. Communicable disease;
11. Neglect;
12. Suicide;

Of the above the most common are bedsores, falls and medication errors.

[Robin Smith]

The medical negligence can be of different types & the wrong medical diagnosis or medication, below average hygiene standards in the operating theatre are found to be more common in them. Once reported case of clinical negligence, where a patient has been able to make a clinical negligence compensation claim.