Guess what is the Third Leading Cause of Death in the United States

We all know that heart disease and cancer claim hundreds of thousands of lives each year in the United States. Many of those related to smoking.

But in a surprising study found: here medical error is the 3rd leading cause of death in the United States.

Science Alert states:

After analysing eight years of official cause-of-death data, researchers have found that more than 250,000 people are killed each year in the US as a result of medical mistakes. That's 9.7 percent of all deaths in the country.

See the above links for the complete articles.

This is horrible. When one goes to seek medical treatment they expect professional care, not sloppy work. And a lot of it boils down to sloppy work. Sloppy handwriting causing the wrong prescription to be given, wrong doses given, even wrong people being operated on.

There have been cases of the wrong person have been amputated by accident, or the wrong limb chopped off on accident. Surgeons regularly leave things inside patients they do surgery on, like scissors and other medical equipment.

250,000 is a staggering number. For that many people to die because of medical errors means there is something very very wrong with the system. This is not 5 people, or 10 people, or even 100 people, or even 1000, or even 10,000.

To put that into perspective about 3,000 people died when the WTC buildings collapsed. 250,000 is 83 times that amount.

a reply to: QuinnP

Well, that will be a slap in the face to those that think we should trust our doctors and our Government. I am not at all surprised by this statistic.

a reply to: QuinnP
First, how many people are treated by medical professionals each year? Millions?

Second, the medical industry has needed an overhaul for a long time. Doctors and nurses work extremely long hours, and that leads to mistakes. Shifts for both should be no more than 8 hours, and probably should be more like 6 hours. This would reduce fatigue and mistakes by a large margin I would think.

There are other factors as well. Not diminishing the number of deaths, or peoples lives. Just trying to be realistic.

a reply to: Klassified

First, how many people are treated by medical professionals each year? Millions?

You do realize it doesn't make any difference in this context how many people are treated, right? It is the 3rd leading cause of death regardless of 100 or 100000000 people being treated.

a reply to: Metallicus

I realize that the medical field is needed and helpful. But there is a system-wide problem that needs to be addressed. And people need to be informed.


In general:

I know some people may be bashful about speaking up when it comes to Doctors and others in the medical community. But when it comes to your own life, it is worth speaking up.

Make sure that diagnosis was right. Don't be afraid to get a second, or even a third opinion. The most you are going to do is hurt someone's pride. And that is not worth your life. If the pharmacist cannot read or isn't sure of the prescription being given, which has happened to me before, then get the Doctor to verify it.

In the day of everything digital it seems unnecessary that the sloppy penmanship of Doctors is still relied upon, especially when some drugs and reactions to drugs can cause very averse reactions, and the wrong doses as well, including death, which is very common.

Then there are the long hours that many interns and nurses have to work, either to graduate, get their doctorate, or just because of being short-staffed. Sleep deprivation is a large cause of accidents.

So many of these things are just avoidable. Even dangerous unnecessary tests. From one of the articles linked in the OP:

A young woman recovered well after a successful transplant operation. However, she was readmitted for non-specific complaints that were evaluated with extensive tests, some of which were unnecessary, including a pericardiocentesis. She was discharged but came back to the hospital days later with intra-abdominal hemorrhage and cardiopulmonary arrest. An autopsy revealed that the needle inserted during the pericardiocentesis grazed the liver causing a pseudoaneurysm that resulted in subsequent rupture and death. The death certificate listed the cause of death as cardiovascular.

a reply to: Klassified

You would think that the United States being a first-world country would be safer.

Did you know that the chances of a woman dying from childbirth in the United States is a lot higher than that of a woman in Mexico.

There is something extremely wrong here.

Between 2003 and 2013 it was one of only eight countries, including Afghanistan and South Sudan, to see its maternal-death rate move in the wrong direction. American women are now more than three times as likely to die from pregnancy-related complications as their counterparts in Britain, the Czech Republic, Germany or Japan. Source

Another article:

Maternal deaths related to childbirth in the United States are nearly at the highest rate in a quarter century, and a woman giving birth in America is now more likely to die than a woman giving birth in China, according to a new study. Sour ce

Over 100,000 people die each year from infections they acquired in a hospital. Mostly from staff handling patients without washing their hands. Be on the Lookout for yourself and your loved ones.

Read this for other things to watch out for when hospitalized.

www.cbsnews.com...

a reply to: ladyinwaiting

My material grandpa was in the hospital for a triple-bypass. Only to die a few weeks later from a staph infection he got from unsanitary conditions during his surgery.

a reply to: QuinnP


Agreed, but let's not forget the insurance companies and their possible roll in this number? Doctor wants test, insurance company refuses? Doctor wants patient to stay in hospital a few more days, insurance company refuses?


The medical system is greedy mess!

originally posted by: QuinnP
a reply to: ladyinwaiting

My material grandpa was in the hospital for a triple-bypass. Only to die a few weeks later from a staph infection he got from unsanitary conditions during his surgery.

I'm so sorry. I lost my neighbor, a lovely woman, who went in for an elective surgery, and also died from staph. (The hospital denies they have it). Total BS.

a reply to: Klassified

What if I told you that staff routinely work 16 hour shifts for multiple days in a row?

a reply to: ladyinwaiting

Well we all have staph on our skin, all it takes is an infected hair follicle or a laceration.

originally posted by: Metallicus
a reply to: Klassified

First, how many people are treated by medical professionals each year? Millions?

You do realize it doesn't make any difference in this context how many people are treated, right? It is the 3rd leading cause of death regardless of 100 or 100000000 people being treated.

I do understand. I had a friend who went in for vein treatment in a doctors office, and never came home. Also a cousin who died from his first cancer treatment because they screwed up at the hospital. And the most important person in my life died when I was 4 months old from a head surgery that went wrong.

I'm not excusing these people, or the industry. What I am saying is, our medical sciences have a much better track record today than just decades ago. Medical science wasn't perfect then, nor is it perfect now, but it's a hell of a lot better in many ways. Mistakes are going to be made, and unforeseen problems are going to arise. What I DO NOT and WILL NOT excuse is, the medical industry trying to cut corners when they charge an arm and a leg to get treatment(Pun intended). NOR do I excuse sloppy, haphazard work or conditions in medical offices and hospitals, and overworked personnel who nap a few hours for every 24. It's ridiculous and unnecessary.

None of us wants to be among that 250000, but I'd rather be treated by a doctor today, than 50 years ago. Today, my mother would likely be alive after that surgery, and I would grow up knowing my biological mother. Not to slight my aunt. She was a wonderful mother in her own right.

originally posted by: avgguy
a reply to: Klassified

What if I told you that staff routinely work 16 hour shifts for multiple days in a row?

What if I told you I mentioned that in my first post?

and they have the nerve to charge as much as they do for such sub standard care,and they are always boasting about how the U.S. has the best healthcare in the world.

I have just endured the worst two months of my life due to mistakes and failures while in the hospital. I won't waste your time with the details because I think everyone can relate to the horror of medicine. There's not a dr I trust-they're owned by big pharma. So many family members have died due to their mistakes but they cover for each other. Been through alot with my elderly mother especially at Mayo Clinic-they are not friendly but are brilliant.

So I say that's where I'm headed and I urge all-Go to Mayo if you wanna live.

originally posted by: avgguy
a reply to: ladyinwaiting

Well we all have staph on our skin, all it takes is an infected hair follicle or a laceration.

Uh, no. There is a difference in the staph you have on your skin and "Hospital Staph". Hospitals would get rid of it if they could. They can't. It's resistant to everything it's mutated so many times. It's really bad news. I've seen rooms closed in hospitals because of it.