Medical Mistakes Kill 100,000 Americans Each Year
Photo credit: Library of Congress via pingnews
Medical mistakes kill more Americans each year than car accidents, breast cancer or AIDS. It’s not necessarily that doctors make more mistakes than other professionals. But when doctors, especially surgeons, make mistakes, the consequences are often devastating.
The best way to avoid a medical error is patient vigilance. Patients need to understand their treatment, keep organized records of which doctors they see and what medications they take, and ask questions when things don’t seem right.
But for many patients, asking important safety questions such as “have you washed your hands?”; “are you sure this is the medication I’m supposed to take?”; or “how many times have you performed this surgery?”, is simply out of the question. A new report shows that despite national campaigns encouraging patients to take an active role in improving hospital safety, many patients are not comfortable asking doctors challenging questions about their care.
Patients were only slightly more willing to ask nurses challenging questions. However, if a doctor instructed a surgical patient to be sure and ask about safety issues like hand washing and medication, the patient found it far easier to ask those questions. Interestingly, women were more likely to ask challenging questions than men.
The study authors said the findings suggest patients are worried about insulting their doctors by asking safety-oriented questions. For patient safety programs to be effective, doctors and nurses need to let patients know that challenging questions are OK.
Related reading:
Medicine Mix-Ups Harm Kids
25 Tips to Help Protect Yourself from Medical Errors
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Clay Collins | The Growing Life responds:
Posted: April 11th, 2008 at 4:52 am →
In the U.S., the health care system is the 3rd leading cause of death. Scary stuff. Interesting post. Thanks Vered.
MomGrind responds:
Posted: April 11th, 2008 at 7:18 am →
Yes, it is scary. Patients need to learn to protect themselves.
Chris responds:
Posted: April 11th, 2008 at 8:25 am →
I just began to ask our family doctors tough questions because of the recent medical emergencies my family had. If it weren’t for my mother-in-law’s vigilance, my brother would be dead by now since his initial doctors mis-diognosed him.
Jen responds:
Posted: April 11th, 2008 at 4:25 pm →
I agree with Chris - sometimes a family member needs to be the one that asks the tough questions. I have to do it for my parents.
MomGrind responds:
Posted: April 12th, 2008 at 6:22 pm →
@ Chris: I’m glad. It’s the best way to handle medical staff.
@ Jen: I know. My mom does this for my grandfather.
Shilpan | successsoul.com responds:
Posted: April 13th, 2008 at 12:46 pm →
Vered,
Interesting article. Here is the link to a very good site that may be worth checking for your physician before seeing him next time.
http://www.physicianreports.com/
Shilpan
MomGrind responds:
Posted: April 13th, 2008 at 12:52 pm →
Thanks Shilpan! I bookmarked it.
"Superhero" Post - Response (Plus FeedBurner Mistake We All Made) — Practice This responds:
Posted: April 25th, 2008 at 2:27 pm →
[…] Me and my wife never fight - we do have tense situations though. Too often. We cope with this. Just like any unexpected situation with the customer. No one will benefit just accusing the other side. We all manage our business. Fighting never helps. Do you think these doctors see their patients as a customers? - Medical Mistakes Kill 100,000 Americans Each Year. […]
hyrcan responds:
Posted: June 24th, 2008 at 8:54 am →
A very close friend of mine lost her husband, who was being treated for cancer through a clinical trial, because the doctors made a mistake and did not act on the pneumonia he had. The fact they attempted to obfuscate the fact a mistake was made by refusing access to his medical records just made it harder on her.
Sometimes even when hard questions are asked mistakes get made and people loose their lives.
MomGrind responds:
Posted: June 24th, 2008 at 12:18 pm →
@ hyrcan: that’s just terrible! I often think that doctors are after all human and are bound to make mistakes, but the result of those mistakes is so much more serious than in other professions. But trying to cover up a mistake - that’s just criminal, isn’t it?
I wish there was a way to completely prevent these situations.