Medicine Information

Medical Malpractice Suits: Death By Medicine


A recent report has found that Americans are more frightened of dying at the hands of their doctor than they are of a plane crash. The overwhelming majority of those who participated in the survey said that information about malpractice suits and medical errors would be the single most deciding factor in trusting a healthcare provider. These people must have heard that medical errors cause more deaths in the United States every year than car accidents, AIDS, or breast cancer.

In fact, for the airline industry to parallel medical errors in mortality rates a 280-person jet would have to crash every day of the year. This would account for the over 100,000 people who die annually due to complications in medical care, not to mention the nearly 2 million who are maimed and disabled. This malady is called iatrogenic disease, a disease that is a direct result of medical care. What is causing this epidemic? Many agree that the cause is over-treatment. More medicine is administered than necessary, people are hospitalized unnecessarily, and doctors prescribe drugs instead of healthy lifestyle choices. This is a major problem and it shows no signs of stopping.

In the ten year period between 1983 and 1993 the incidence of death by medical error, or iatrogenic disease, jumped 260% overall and 850% among patience receiving outpatient care. These statistics could only be an indication of the true numbers, because medical error is not often recorded on death certificates. Some people blame the increased number of deaths on a greater number of prescriptions, but the number of prescriptions issued has increased less than 40% in 10 years, compared with the 260% increased death rate. Instead, some doctors blame increased usage of anesthesia, especially among those receiving outpatient care.

Medical malpractice insurance rates have been skyrocketing, causing a small crisis among doctors who must be insured in order to practice. They complain of medical malpractice lawsuits going out of control, large cities awarding record settlements, too many people filing claims. Well can you blame people for filing claims? Doctors must be held accountable for their prescriptions, and if a doctor writes you a prescription that hurts you they deserve to be taken to court! This is truly an epidemic, and it must be stopped by holding irresponsible healthcare providers responsible. One in five Americans has experienced medical errors directly or has a family member who has suffered a medical error. If you feel you have suffered unnecessarily at the hands of a doctor, seek legal council and work it out with a lawyer.

If you have more questions, contact a medical error attorney or read about other medical malpractice cases at http://www.hugesettlements.com.

If you use this article, please include these links.


MORE RESOURCES:

Spoonful of Sugar Really Might Help Medicine Go Down
U.S. News & World Report, DC - 3 hours ago
21 (HealthDay News) -- If your child won't take medicine and shuns broccoli at the dinner table, his body may just be hard-wired to respond that way. ...


Insurance gap leads some elderly to forgo medicine
The Associated Press - 8 hours ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — Many people in Medicare with diabetes, high blood pressure and other chronic conditions stop taking their medicine when faced with picking ...
Health care panel at WSU pushes for system overhaul Detroit Free Press
all 103 news articles


Helping the medicine go down
EurekAlert (press release), DC - 4 hours ago
21, 2008 — Getting little Doug and Debbie to take a spoonful of medicine is more than just a rite of passage for frustrated parents. ...


Stanley Deresinski, Clinical Professor of Medicine-Med/Infectious ...
PR.com (press release), NY - 4 hours ago
Monrovia, CA, August 21, 2008 --(PR.com)-- Dr. Stanley Deresinski, Clinical Professor of Medicine-Med/Infectious Diseases at Stanford University in Palo ...


Insurance gap leads some elderly to forgo medicine
WLOS, NC - 6 hours ago
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Researchers say that when many people who enrolled in Medicare hit what's called the "doughnut hole," they stop taking their medicines. ...


The New England Journal of Medicine, American Family Physician ...
Earthtimes (press release), UK - 10 hours ago
21 -- The New England Journal of Medicine and American Family Physician rank as top online medical journals by US primary care physician visitation, ...


Alternative medicine will be on display
The Gazette (Montreal), Canada - 13 hours ago
It is truly amazing to see how mainstream and accepted alternative medicine has become. I remember when I first started to seek out alternative treatments ...


AFP

Anti-addiction medicine leads to weight loss in rats: study
AFP - 6 hours ago
WASHINGTON (AFP) — A medicine seen as a promising treatment for cocaine and methamphetamine addiction has also been shown to shed weight in laboratory rats, ...


Chatter Shmatter

Merck Comments on New England Journal of Medicine article by J ...
PharmaLive.com (press release), PA - 9 hours ago
Established in 1891, Merck currently discovers, develops, manufactures and markets vaccines and medicines to address unmet medical needs. ...
HPV vaccine pays off for pre-adolescents but long-term value ... Los Angeles Times
Get your young virgins vaccinated against HPV and cancer ZDNet
HPV vaccine by age 21 is a sound investment USA Today
Irish Medical Times - Irish Times
all 317 news articles


BBC News

Cutting edge medicine examined
BBC News, UK - 13 hours ago
Patients, doctors and scientists at the cutting edge of medicine are the subject of a new programme. The first programme on robotic surgery looks at how an ...

Medicine - Google News

home | site map
© 2006