US medical errors kill 200,000 a year
A study examining medical services in the US has said workplace error is a main cause of death in the country.
Published On 7 Aug 2004
The study suggests that 200,000 people die every year in the US because of mistakes by doctors.
Health Grades Foundation, which specialises in providing information about medical services, says in a report that 195,009 patients die every year in the US because of errors that can be easily avoided.
The number is double the estimate published by the American Medical Institute in 1999, which said between 44,000 and 98,000 patients died in the US because of “human error”.
Medical sources have indicated that despite the US having the most sophisticated medical techniques, the amount of mistakes committed in hospitals is worrying.
Source: News Agencies