Cancer and heart disease are the top 2 killers in the US. Is it surprising that the 3rd is not a disease? According to research in the Journal of the American Medical Assoc (JAMA) and from the Institute of Medicine, our own medical system kills upward of 225,000 people every year.
The author is Dr. Barbara Starfield of the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health and she desribes how the US health care system may contribute to poor health.
ALL THESE ARE DEATHS PER YEAR:
* 12,000 -- due to unnecessary surgery
* 7,000 -- due to medication errors in hospitals
* 20,000 -- due to other errors in hospitals
* 80,000 -- due to infections in hospitals
* 106,000 -- due to non-error, negative effects of drugs
These total to 225,000 deaths per year from iatrogenic causes!! (Iatrogenic is defined as induced in a patient by a physician's activity, manner, or therapy. Used especially of a complication of treatment).
<> Click below for links to this article and others:
Doctors Are The Third Leading Cause of Death in the US, Killing 225,000 People Every Year
Medical Mistakes Kill 100,000 Americans A Year
The incidence and severity of adverse events affecting patients after discharge from the hospital
US Health System Most Expensive in World
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