One in ten hospital patients harmed by preventable medical mistakes

It's difficult to fully appreciate the magnitude of this problem until you realize that if, indeed, 750,000 people are killed each year by prescription drugs and conventional medical doctors, then modern health care is the leading cause of death in the United States, killing more people than even cancer.

• Citing statistics that one in 10 hospital patients are victims of preventable medical mistakes, the World Health Organization on Wednesday announced an initiative to create a "culture of safety" in health care.
• "Improved health care is perhaps humanity's greatest achievement of the last 100 years," WHO Director-General Dr. Lee Jong-wook said.
• "Improving patient safety in clinics and hospitals is in many cases the best way there is to protect the advances we have made in health care."
• The initiative, the World Alliance for Patient Safety, will bring together governments, civil society organizations, scientists and researchers to develop and share strategies for reducing medical mistakes.
• Among the major partners are the United States, Britain and Australia.
• The WHO cited figures from studies that said 10 percent of hospital patients in the world's industrialized countries suffer from medical mistakes, which can lead to serious disability or even death.
• In the United States, a study by the federal Institute of Medicine estimated in 1999 that 44,000 to 98,000 hospital deaths annually are caused by "medical errors" claiming more lives than car accidents, breast cancer or AIDs.
• Under-equipped hospitals, second-rate medications, a lack of technology and poor hygiene are major factors.
• "Human error is inevitable," said Sir Liam Donaldson, chief medical officer of the British Department of Health and chairman of the WHO coalition on patient safety, By raising awareness of the issue, Donaldson said, "We can reduce error, but most importantly, we can reduce its impact."
• The causes can range from sloppy note taking especially doctors' illegible handwriting to different medications that come in deceptively similar packaging.
• Patients may be given too high or too low a dose, the wrong medication, or no medication when one is needed.
• Susan Sheridan, of Eagle, Ohio, said two members of her family were victims of medical errors.