250,000 Americans die each year from a medical error. Many of these deaths are preventable according to the two researchers who reveal this estimate.
Medical errors kill. In the United States, the toll is heavy. According to two researchers from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (Baltimore, Maryland, United States), they cause some 250,000 deaths each year in the country. This figure is probably underestimated, explain Martin Makary and Michael Daniel in the British Medical Journal.
50,000 annual deaths in France
Medical errors are the third leading cause of death in the United States, after cardiovascular disease and cancer. As Martin Makary explains to theAFP, “People are dying from misdiagnosis, drug overdoses, fragmented care, communication problems or preventable complications. “According to him, the degraded quality of care on the African continent kills” more people than AIDS or malaria combined. “
In France, the association for the defense of victims of medical accidents Le Lien estimates that in 2013, 50,000 deaths were attributable to these incidents. Over the same period, 15 million hospitalizations were recorded.
The problem is that no official statistics exist regarding this specific mortality. To arrive at their estimate, the two researchers used studies published between 1999 and today. They extrapolated the results in light of the hospitalizations declared over the year 2013. But the figure which emerges, 251,454 annual deaths, is probably underestimated according to Dr Makary and Daniel. Indeed, it only takes into account patients who died in hospital.
A three-step solution
This observation established, the researchers recognize it, the error is human and inevitable. On the other hand, it is possible to “better appreciate the extent of the problem, and to develop systems which limit its frequency, its visibility and its consequences. “
They come up with a three step solution to combat this. The first is to make medical errors more visible. For this, it is necessary to investigate the origin of the death without excluding treatment. The researchers also suggest that this data be entered in the death certificate. The second step is to help patients by providing solutions and antidotes. The last step is not the least: the authors ask that the limits of the human being be taken more into account. Here again, the investigation is crucial.
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