Greedy Trial Lawyer
Doctor Errors Are As Common As The Air We Breathe
Category: Seeing Clearly Now
A reasonable assumption is that every doctor has made mistakes in patient care. I mean, if 92% admit making mistakes we have to conclude that the remaining 8% are lying or oblivious to their mistakes.
Doctors are Human, too [Would the better title be, Doctors Are Too Human?]
A report from the AP last week, and reported by the Washington Post, Fox News and others, describes a survey of more than 3,000 doctors in both the US and Canada about their reactions to their own mistakes.The survey was developed and issued by the Joint Commission (JCAHO), the body that accredits hospitals and other health care facilities. It asked doctors whether they had affected any near misses, minor medical errors, or serious medical errors which may have caused permanent or potentially life threatening harm.
92% admitted they had been involved in errors. And those involved also reported that after they made the errors, they felt increased anxiety about the potential for future mistakes, less confidence in their abilities, they reported sleep problems and a loss of job satisfaction.
The number is huge -- 92% !! We all make mistakes, granted, but our mistakes don't usually cause harm to other lives. That's 92 of every 100 doctors. We know that translates to almost 100,000 deaths per year, too. I don't know how to do that math, but those numbers are huge.
So perhaps the biggest takeaway from this report is that we patients need to internalize is the sheer numbers of doctors who make mistakes. And we patients need to practice defensive treatment seeking.
Because at least 92% of our doctors are making errors and we are the ones paying the price.
Posted by Trisha Torrey at EVERY PATIENT'S ADVOCATE
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