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According to the Institute of Medicine, between 44,000 and 98,000 people die in hospitals each year due to preventable medical errors.  This article discusses some of the less well known causes of medical errors.

According to the Institute of Medicine, between 44,000 and 98,000 people die in hospitals each year due to preventable medical errors, otherwise known as medical malpractice. Medical malpractice comes in many different forms. Some cases are very obvious, while others require close examination. Birth Injury, Dental Negligence and Medication Errors are three forms of medical malpractice that are often overlooked entirely.

Birth Injury

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Medical Malpractice

Medical errors are a leading cause of death and injury nationwide. According to an article in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) (Vol 284, No 4, July 26th 2000) by Barbara Starfield, M.D., M.P.H., of the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health, medical errors may be the third leading cause of death in the United States. Medical malpractice includes errors by a physician, a member of a hospital staff or other health care provider that occurs in a medical setting and results in injury to the patient. Malpractice may occur when a practitioner breaches the standard of care recognized and accepted by other practitioners in the same field. A critical component of a successful malpractice claim is determining the accepted standard of care, whether that standard was followed and, if not, whether failure to follow that standard caused the injury.

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People usually look up to doctors and nurses because of the reputation they cultivated of alleviating the pain and suffering of their patients. Doctors and nurses are guided by medical procedures developed by international experts and specialists. They are own competence develop through experience as they mature in their profession.

Alas, these medical practitioners are but human, imperfect and erring. Given the tremendous trust people give them, however, once something goes wrong in their execution of medical procedures and their patient suffers from it, it opens a controversial issue of medical malpractice.

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