Nearly 195,000 people in the U.S. died each year as a result of potentially avoidable medical errors in 2000, 2001, and 2002, according to a new study of 37 million patient records.
“The equivalent of 390 jumbo jets full of people are dying each year due to preventable, in-hospital medical errors, making this one of the leading killers in the U.S.,” says Samantha Collier, MD, in a news release. Collier is vice president of medical affairs at Health Grades Inc., which conducted the study.
“If the Center for Disease Control’s annual list of leading causes of death included medical errors, it would show up as number six, ahead of diabetes, pneumonia, Alzheimer’s disease and renal disease,” says Collier. “Hospitals need to act on this, and consumers need to arm themselves with enough information to make quality-oriented health care choices when selecting hospital and providers.”