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Preventable Medical Error Death Estimates Double

On July 27, 2004 the news service HealthDayNews reported that the estimated number of people in the United States who die each year from preventable medical errors in hospitals has more than doubled from previous estimates of 98,000 per year to more than 195,000.

The previous estimate came from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in 1999. The current report was produced by HealthGrades, Inc., a health-quality ratings company. IOM representatives confirmed the new estimates saying their 1999 estimates were always considered to be on the conservative side.

In the study, 37 million Medicare patient hospital records from 2000 to 2002 were reviewed. The data showed there were about 1.14 million “safety-related incidents” associated with 323,993 deaths. 81% of those deaths were specifically attributable to an incident. One in every four Medicare patients who experienced an incident died.

The report also found that 60% of all “safety-related incidents” were the result of “failure to rescue” (that is, the failure to diagnose and treat a condition that developed in the hospital), bedsores and post-operative sepsis and infection.

According to the authors, during the time frame of the study, 2000 to 2002, the 575,000 preventable deaths that occurred cost American consumers an extra $19 billion.

Lead author, Dr. Samantha Collier said, “The magnitude of this is significant. We need to address this and we need to have support from the medical community.”

“I think it’s a safe bet to say that we’ve maybe gotten a little complacent about patient safety in the medical community, and this is just re-sparking and refueling debate around how to address this,” she said. “Hopefully, it is creating a sense of urgency.”

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