Death by Medical Mistake - big numbers.

I don't know if this has been discussed in detail.
It's the dirty little secret that the arrogant doctors and hospitals dont' want to acknowledge.
The expensive secret that hospitals don't want people to get a clear view of.
Death by medical mistake and misdiagnosis' in general (those never make the news.)

I had one hell of a spring/summer. Misdiagnosis after misdiagnosis. Bad meds after bad meds. Side effects off the charts. I used to think wonderful things about doctors .. that they were smart and would listen to what a patient said and that they had the right answers. Now I know better. I've never run into more arrogant people who were wrong in my life. Heck .. i've even noticed that the (fictional) character HOUSE has to guess 2 or 3 times before getting a right diagnosis. IMHO - It's a freak'n crap shoot - a crap shoot to get a doctor who knows what he/she is doing and a crap shoot to get a correct diagnosis/correct medication.

The scary facts ...

Wrong Diagnosis
In the USA -

•42% of people believed they had personally experienced a medical mistake (NPSF survey)
•44,000 to 98,000 deaths annually from medical errors (Institute of Medicine)
•225,000 deaths annually from medical errors including 106,000 deaths due to "n adverse events of medications" (Starfield)
•180,000 deaths annually from medication errors and adverse reactions (Holland)
•20,000 annually to 88,000 deaths annually from nosocomial infections
•2.9 to 3.7 percent of hospitalizations leading to adverse medication reactions
•7,391 deaths resulted from medication errors (Institute of Medicine)
•2.4 to 3.6 percent of hospital admissions were due to (prescription) medication events (Australian study)

Medical Mistakes - the leading cause of accidental deaths in America

The article states that 98,000 people die every year from medical mistakes. This is more than the number of people killed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Also, more than 99,000 patients succumb to hospital-acquired infections, and most of these deaths are clearly preventable.

Hearst reports that there is a prevalent "veil of secrecy" among hospitals when it comes to reporting the mistakes and the circumstances surrounding the preventable deaths of patients.

That article discusses hospital mistakes. But primary care physicians and specialists also make them all the stink'n time. The numbers don't reflect the truth of how bad this really is - IMHO.

Health and Beyond

During 1999 mainstream institutions revealed that one of the biggest killers in the U.S. is medical mistakes.

The NEW YORK TIMES reported that 5% of people admitted to hospitals, or about 1.8 million people per year, in the U.S. pick up an infection while there.[1] Such infections are called "iatrogenic" -- meaning "induced by a physician," or, more loosely, "caused by medical care." Iatrogenic infections are directly responsible for 20,000 deaths among hospital patients in the U.S. each year, and they contribute to an additional 70,000 deaths, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The dollar cost of iatrogenic infections is $4.5 billion, according to the CDC.

Feel free to discuss the coverup by hospitals and doctors .. the arrogance of the medical profession even when they are wrong ... heck, big pharma and their killer drugs .. Yes, many people are in the field to help. I get that. But I've been misdiagnosed many, many times more often than I've been correctly diagnosed. I'm sure I'm not the only one. The stats prove it and honestly, considering what I've been through and what others tell me at the Sjogrens support group, I think the misdiagnosis numbers are much higher.

Sorry to hear about the way you had to find out that Doctors are what they are. Sometimes I believe I do better with my herbs, tinctures and infusions than they do with all that schooling they had.

I too have been fighting the demons of modern medicine for many years, and sadly, you are right....no one listens.

Doctors, from my experience do not know anything...there are times I have enlightened them on some of the newest procedures accepted by JAMA, and they are surprised that I even know what JAMA stands for and that I would read up on the latest medical breakthroughs.

u2u?

I have a lot of respect for many of the emergency room doctors, nurses, technicians and such. They really can perform some miracles on patients that are at death's door.

However, as a victim of medical malpractice as a 4 year old and also again at age 13, I have very little trust for family doctors. Maybe I am being "too cautious" but I nearly DIED right in front of my mother because of an arrogant "can do no wrong" doctor and a nasty pharmaceutical.

My husband works in R&D for a pharma company and he even says that the means to get a drug FDA approved are shady at best and often not scientific at all. He is looking for a new line of work teaching because he does not agree with the apparently legal "ethics" used in drug approval. Money really does rule all in this case.

Nearly every time I have seen a family doctor I would say in the last few years have ended up with me basically diagnosing myself and the doctor agreeing. I often wonder, why am I even here???
I was misdiagnosed with a terminal illness in 2007 which was very devastating and all subsuquent tests have showed that diagnosis to be wrong. But that would not have stopped the docs from trying to start me on a round of chemo drugs..thank god for second and third opinions and personal persistence.

My uncle died at age 41 of throat cancer that had spread to his body after a series of completely useless medical procedures that the doctors later admitted didn't do much more than put him in more pain. He was their guinea pig and when his sad body was spent and pumped with useless toxins, he ended up opting for an assisted suicide..breathing was agony at that point. Left behind 4 beautiful children and so many unanswered questions. From the moment of "diagnosis" til his death was little more than a year.

So yeah, call me biased. I have had the best luck using stone healing, vitamins, and supplements. Also meditation and yoga are amazing tools. EVERY drug and vaccine I have ever been prescribed in the past has been rejected by my body, at times violently..so at least for me..I refuse to be another guinea pig for the medical establishment. I have had a doctor tell me "Don't trust what you read online!" (Dur!) yet I am supposed to trust him (a man I will only know a few minutes out of my entire life) to make my decisions for me? No thanks. Follow that inner voice. There are many amazing discoveries in the medical field which I deeply respect. But much of it is complete money making BS. Learn to decipher the difference. Research anything and everything that would go into your body before you put it in.

I think that once people and doctors realize that being a doctor doesn't make you a god that these mistakes can be remedied.A medical degree does not make you intsantly perfect. Mistakes are made and sadly there is nothing we can do about it. To err is human. But that does not excuse the fact that all the lives lost due to outright negligence is right. As customer and thats all we are is customers,( a sad realization I came to when I was diagonosed with cancer) we have th right to demand better service. The healthy industry needs a rehaul soon. We are the only ones that can change it.

Originally posted by bastet11
INearly every time I have seen a family doctor I would say in the last few years have ended up with me basically diagnosing myself and the doctor agreeing. I often wonder, why am I even here???.

I wonder it all the time. When I went in to see the doctors I'd tell them the symptoms and they came up with the wrong diagnosis each time. I told them what was going on .. the symptoms and what I thought it was .. but they'd throw their medical degrees in my face and not even listen. Turns out I was right each time and they were wrong. They never apologized or acknowledged their errors.

Spent one hell of a spring/summer dealing with them like that.
I'm trying not to hate them. if they weren't so darn arrogant !!
I forgive them but I know I'll have to deal with even more of them.
That makes me both nervous and angry.

In Australia we have health warnings on cigarette packets.
Perhaps we need them on the doors to doctors' surgeries too.

The medical organisations have worked long and hard to exaggerate the dangers of alternative therapies, forcing most people to rely on pharmaceutical medicine.
They tell us it's safer!

reply to post by FlyersFan


Are you from philadelphia?

So was I, and I practiced radiology at a suburban hospital system there for many years as a resident, fellow,

and staff person until my physician wife and I left (to my dismay, since I was born in PA).

We left because A) she couldn't pay her malpractice insurance 1 year out of training (we already

were -$25k from her first year premium), and it was to double every year for the next 4 (!).

B) I was afraid of being sued every couple of years - like everyone else in southeastern PA - no matter

what i did, right, wrong, correct, incorrect - etc.

It upsets ME to have my own family members misdiagnosed by other doctors as well - hard to believe?

As a physician , you can oversee and doublecheck things other physicians do, but outside yours specialty

you should (for moral/ ethical reasons), have your family's health care in the hands of someone other than

a family member.

My father was misdiagnosed with "hearburn" for months, then he became a type 1 diabetic at age 78,

and was dead a year later from pacreatic carcinoma - a delay in diagnosis of easily 6 months.

Do i feel bad, YUP!

Do i blame his doctor - yes ...and no!

I myself didn't pick it up as i wasn't in PA to examine him - and reflux disease is so common its hard

to doubt. My error in diagnosis was not factoring in how little my own dad complained about his pain,

to the point of misdiagnosis.

Ive been a patient too - as of today in fact - and the patient usually contributes to muddling of the diagnosis as

well (for all the various reasons you can think of).

my dear, we are all human. The crux of the problem is not that many medical mistakes are being made,

because they will until robots replace doctors (**and that's coming**).

The real problem is the large, institutionalized group practice of medicine - and all the bad things that

come from ultra large hospitals / universities / health systems. I will be the first to state

"I love the art of medicine, but hate being told how to practice it by the institution."

I could rant even longer about the litany of offensive things former employers (hospitals, chairmen, senior

partners, insurers!) told me to do, and how defensive the older physicians were when they were confronted

(rarely!) about their mistakes. As long as there are large groups with economic vested interests in how

medicine is practiced, doctors will not be free to practice the humane art of medicine that existed

now and then 2 decades ago. I feel i still practice well enough - but am sickened by our system's airport

mentality. We can't treat patients like passengers on a plane - and passengers on a plane are now

being treated worse than livestock - so hopefully something will change soon.*

(* and therein lies the solution: smaller groups of physicians who don't have the sword of the insurer hanging

over their exam room limiting their time - TIME - with the patient will lead to better care, and a much

more satisfying experience for your doctor. Patients never hear us - doctors - complain to each other

of how ridiculous the time crunch foisted ON us by conflicting interests interferes with the real enjoyment

of practicing. It all trickles down from the private sector: If no one constrains medical equipment manufacturers

prices, pharmaceutical companies outrageous business practices, home health care's enormous cost and

ease of fraud, unfettered tort malpractice lawyers, and insurer's lust for profits (they are in the 10-35% profit

range, while MA hospitals are 1-3%!), then how in the world will doctors improve their care and reduce

mistakes?- when medicare pay is constantly being cut, malpractice rates and school costs keep going up,

regulations are being leveled at docs and hospitals (the poorest lobbies believe it or not!)) >phew< i gotta stop.

good topic though!

Originally posted by drphilxr
Are you from philadelphia?

Yep. Wilmington, DE actually. But some of the doctors who misdiagnosed were up in Philly. Supposedly the best in the area. Jefferson. I'm telling ya .. UGH! I understand humans make errors, but the arrogance behind the errors was sickening. Refusal to acknowledge the errors. Refusal to listen when I'd tell them they were wrong .. for example, one idiot ENT kept telling me that I had GERD and anxiety. "I've been at this 25 years and I'm telling you... that is definately GERD in the throat and anxiety. Take some antiacids and some anxiety meds" .. It was WRONG and I knew it but he'd throw his resume in my face. Turns out I have SJOGRENS which is why my vocal cords are all dried up and the reason i was so upset with him wasn't because I had 'anxiety' but it was frustration due to his misdiagnosis.

The number of deaths and injuries due to doctor error .. hosptial error ... YIKES.
And that's just what gets reported.
People like me .. my stats aren't reported to anyone.

Its a crap shoot.

Originally posted by FlyersFan

Originally posted by drphilxr
Are you from philadelphia?

Yep. Wilmington, DE actually. But some of the doctors who misdiagnosed were up in Philly. Supposedly the best in the area. Jefferson. I'm telling ya .. UGH! I understand humans make errors, but the arrogance behind the errors was sickening. Refusal to acknowledge the errors. Refusal to listen when I'd tell them they were wrong .. for example, one idiot ENT kept telling me that I had GERD and anxiety. "I've been at this 25 years and I'm telling you... that is definately GERD in the throat and anxiety. Take some antiacids and some anxiety meds" .. It was WRONG and I knew it but he'd throw his resume in my face. Turns out I have SJOGRENS which is why my vocal cords are all dried up and the reason i was so upset with him wasn't because I had 'anxiety' but it was frustration due to his misdiagnosis.

The number of deaths and injuries due to doctor error .. hosptial error ... YIKES.
And that's just what gets reported.
People like me .. my stats aren't reported to anyone.

Its a crap shoot.

To make you feel a bit better: I graduated from Jefferson medical college in 1993, and did my

neuroradiology fellowship there in 1997-8. The ENT department has probably changed since, but

I myself still have no GOOD diagnosis for my chronic left tonsillar pain syndrome, despite being

an ENT specialty radiologist myself and seeing 3 of boston's absolute top ENT doctors in 3 months.

Yes, reflux disease is overdiagnosed - i overdiagnosed myself as did the ENT's. You will find that

what i posted about "airport mentality" of seeing patients is what is the root problem here - lack of time

leads to lazy diagnosis. Why lack of time ? Do you think your ENT's were rushing to the golf course for tee time?

Anything but! The constant stream of emergencies , life threatening cancers, etc along with 30-50 patients

to see a day creates this atmosphere of "cheap diagnoses"; too many scans are ordered on patients as a result

too. TIME is $ to big hospitals and insurers who pull the strings, and the docs at the top are too comfortable

to change either. But something's gotta give eventually....hang in.

My first spine surgery they made me worse when they left metal fragments in my spine. Later digging thru my medical records I found their letter they sent my insurance company notifying them they were going to use trainee's to perform my surgery. The surgeon told me HE was going to do the surgery.

It was then that I learned there is no law in America that a surgeon/doctor has to tell you that he won't even be cutting you open.....trainee's will be doing it. The law only states the licensed surgeon has to be in the same building during the procedure...and since you're under anesthesia you won't know if he's even in the surgery room let alone the building.

My second spine surgery they used me as a guinea pig for the new spine surgery where they go thru your side. It failed. After the surgery I couldn't even feel/move my legs. I can move them now but I am in very, very bad shape.

Social Security Disability approved me without me ever even having to see their doctor. My records show I've been SCREWED. The worst part is every month I have to go in to see a doctor to get refills on narcotics. I've been on them for years. I picked up my Oxycontin 2 months ago and it didn't work, leaving me in agonizing pain/near death.

Our Federal Government forced Purdue Pharma to reformulate Oxycontin so it can't be chopped up and snorted. Apparently some 4 million Americans somehow get Oxycontin illegally and snort it. The new formulation does not work. It no longer releases medication so your body can absorb it.

So now I'm on Morphine. Yeah we've got the best medical in the world.......NOT!

I'm bumping this thread because I was accused of not being balanced or something when I posted an article about people in England dying in hospitals of malnutrition and dehydration. So .... here comes the bump showing that I'm an equal opportunity 'basher' of doctors and hospitals who aren't all that great ...