Guess What Kills One Person Every 19 Minutes?

[Tenet Nosce]

I love this little gem of an article. It is 12 years old, so the numbers are outdated, but the author is from Johns Hopkins, and it was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Is US Health Really the Best in the World?

as many as 20% to 30% of patients receive contraindicated care.

an estimated 44000 to 98000 [Americans] die each year as a result of medical errors.

• 12000 deaths/year from unnecessary surgery
• 7000 deaths/year from medication errors in hospitals
• 20000 deaths/year from other errors in hospitals
• 80000 deaths/year from nosocomial infections in hospitals
• 106000 deaths/year from nonerror, adverse effects of medications

These total to 225000 deaths per year from iatrogenic causes.

Iatrogenic means: Of or relating to illness caused by medical examination or treatment.

225000 deaths per year constitutes the third leading cause of death in the United States, after deaths from heart disease and cancer.

Among the 13 countries included in the international comparison mentioned above, the US position on income inequality is 11th (third worst).