I’ve been a victim of this. My oncologist missed my recurrence of breast cancer. And now, a new study has shown that missed medical conditions, which may account for as many annual deaths as breast cancer, are an under-rated preventable cause of death, according to Johns Hopkins researchers.
A study done by the researchers has shown that medical errors in the intensive care unit (ICU) may kill as many as 40,500 patients per year, putting diagnostics on par with breast cancer for patient deaths, according to a new study.
Almost 40,000 women died of breast cancer in 2011.
Johns Hopkins was recently awarded an $8.9 million grant to study preventable deaths.
A shocking new survey has found that you are far more likely to die of medical error in the U.S. than in France, Germany or the U.K. A report prepared in the U.K. showed that 12,000 people a year die from mistakes, whether from misdiagnosis, wrong medication or missed medical conditions.
"Despite spending about twice as much per person each year on healthcare as France, Germany or the U.K. ... the U.S. is increasingly falling behind these countries in terms of progress in lowering the potentially preventable death rate,” said Commonwealth Fund President Karen Davis in a statement, as reported by Elise Viebeck.
The problem is everywhere, “yet under-appreciated,” researchers concluded based on studies of more than 5,800 autopsy reports from a wide variety of ICU types.
"Our study shows that misdiagnosis is alarmingly common in the acute care setting," lead author Dr. Bradford Winters said in prepared remarks, Mass Device revealed.
Diabetes, cancer, and heart disease are all considered preventable deaths.
Even though the U.S. spends over $7,000 per person per year on healthcare – half of what France spends, according to Harry Bradford – the depressing reality is that more people are still dying in this country every day than in places that spend much less.
Edited by
Rich Steeves
