A 2004-06 study revealed 238,337 preventable hospital deaths in Medicare patients alone resulting from patient safety errors and costing the Medicare program $8.8 billion dollars.
Source: www.healthgrades.com

Avoiding Medical Malpractice

Submitted by Joey McCutchen on Tue, 2011-11-08 14:16

It’s not too often that I recommend to consumers that they purchase a book. One exception is Patrick Malone’s Book, The Life You Save: Nine Steps to Finding the Best Medical Care and Avoiding the Worst available online for about $16. The information used in this particular blog comes primarily from Mr. Malone’s work.

According to the Institute of Medicine, every year approximately 100,000 people die due to medical mistakes.[1] Many thousands of additional patients sustain injuries that do not result in their death. Based upon figures released by the United States Department of Transportation, it is evident that medical mistakes claim approximately three times more people each year than motor vehicle accidents. Experts say that the number of deaths caused by medical mistakes is equivalent to the number of people who would be dead if a jumbo jet crashed every day and killed every passenger on board.
 
The chance of you getting consistently good health care with even a minimum number of errors is just a spin of the roulette wheel. Many otherwise intelligent, informed adults are somewhat delusional on our health care needs or they simply choose to ignore what should be evident. While we are taught at an early age to trust our doctor, we allow that trust to cause us to be blind to potential medical mistakes. This causes many of us to engage in delusional thinking when it comes to our own medical needs. 
 
I am not implying that doctors are careless or that every doctor (or even the majority of doctors) make numerous errors. But, to be safe, we must begin to take charge of our own health care. In this country, we are frequently intimidated by doctors and give complete deference to what physicians tell us. Thus, the potential for a medical mistake causing harm is intensified. Before you or your family face a crisis with regard to health care, there are several simple things you can do to protect yourself:
 
  • Get copies of your medical records from your doctor and from hospitals where you are treated. Read and organize the records. Doing this can help to prevent miscommunication that can cause a tragedy.
 
  • Learn how to communicate with your doctor. Give him or her the information needed to diagnose what is wrong with you and to prescribe the best available treatment. It is obvious that clear communication with your doctor is the best way to enable your doctor to find out what is wrong with you.
 
  • Team up with the best primary care doctor you can find. This makes sure that you receive good care rather than just mediocre medical care.
 
  • Read about the medications that you are using. Read the package insert. See what the Food and Drug Administration has to see. Unfortunately, doctors are busy and they frequently rely upon propaganda from the drug industry. The best way to avoid a mistake with your medicine is to inform yourself about your medications, side effects, and when the medicine is contraindicated or should not be taken.

 

  • Get a second opinion. There is nothing wrong with obtaining a second opinion.

 

To learn more on this subject, read Patrick Malone’s book. I’m sure that you will be amazed at how taking easy steps can significantly improve the quality of the health care that you receive.
 

[1]Institute of Medicine, To Err is Human: Building a Safer Healthcare System (Washington, DC National Academy Press, 1999).

 

 

Share this
View All Our Blogs