| Estimates
of Preventable Medical Mistakes
Medical Errors and
Deaths Shown by National Studies
Institute of Medicine
National - 44,000-98,000 deaths/year. One million serious injuries
Extrapolated for Massachusetts - 20-45 deaths/week; 461 serious
injuries/week.
American College of Physicians and American
Society of Internal Medicine
These doctors decided not to challenge the above figures because
they believe the medical errors problem
warrants serious attention. But their estimate is lower, 10,000-20,000
deaths/year nationally.
Extrapolated for Massachusetts - 5-10 deaths/week
British Medical Journal
National (U.S.) - 120,000 deaths/year
Extrapolated for Massachusetts - 55 deaths/week
Medical Errors
Recorded in Other States
(Massachusetts had
763,344 hospital discharges in 1997)
California (1976) - 4.6 percent
Extrapolated for Massachusetts - 675 serious injuries/week
New York (1984) - 3.7 percent
Extrapolated for Massachusetts - 543 serious injuries/week
Colorado and Utah (1992) - 2.9 percent
Extrapolated for Massachusetts - 425 serious injuries/week
Massachusetts
Department of Public Health Records
1999 - 9 medical
errors/week
2000 projection - 11 medical errors/week
CONCLUSION - Massachusetts DPH medical error
rate is hundreds of times below the rate of national estimates and
estimates from other states.
Extrapolations for Massachusetts are based on its being 2.4 percent
of the U.S. population. It does not factor in that the state has one
of the highest numbers of hospitals in the country. |
