Med Errors
Richard Flagg drowned in his blood.
Both were victims of the leading cause of accidental death in America - mistakes made in medical care.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/08/08/MNN9191UIJ.DTL#ixzz0NmBhYuAE
Stanley Stinnett choked on his vomit.
Experts estimate that 98,000 people die from preventable medical errors each year. More Americans die each month of preventable medical injuries than died in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Meanwhile, a federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study concluded that an additional 99,000 patients a year succumb to hospital-acquired infections. Almost all of those deaths, experts say, also are preventable.
These numbers are not absolutes. There is no definitive study - which is part of the problem - but all of the available research indicates that the death toll from preventable medical injuries and infections approaches 200,000 per year in the United States.
Ten years ago, a highly publicized federal report called the death toll shocking and challenged the hospital industry to cut it in half.
Instead, federal analysts believe the rate of medical error is actually increasing.
A national investigation by Hearst Newspapers, including The Chronicle, found that the hospital industry, the federal government and most states have failed to take the effective steps outlined in the report a decade ago.
Consequently, over that period, as many as 2 million Americans have died needlessly of preventable medical mistakes.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/08/08/MNN9191UIJ.DTL#ixzz0NmBhYuAE
Doug
CDIstaffing.com