Recent reports suggest that 195,000 people in the U.S. die annually due to preventable hospital medical errors. The report, based on a recent study of 37 million patients from the years 2001-03, looked specifically at the mortality and economic impact of medical errors and injuries that occurred during hospital admissions nationwide.
The study, compiled by HealthGrades, found that medical errors caused up to 98,000 deaths annually and should be considered a national epidemic.
The HealthGrades study found an associated cost of more than $6 billion per year, and that there is little evidence that patient safety has improved in the last five years. HealthGrades reportedly examined 16 of the 20 patient-safety indicators, from bedsores to post-operative sepsis. Their findings were that of these sixteen, the mortality associated with two, failure to rescue and death in low-risk hospital admissions, accounted for the majority of deaths.
The study reportedly said that simply tackling the simplest three issues -- bed sore and postoperative sepsis and pulmonary embolism -- would reduce the entire amount of deaths by some 39,000 people per year from dying.
When hospital accidents occur, knowing your rights is important. The Doan Law Firm P.C. has lengthy experience with medical malpractice death and injury cases and can give advice on number of facets of your hospital experience. the Doan Law Firm, P.C., led by Houston personal injury attorney Jimmy Doan, can be contacted at 1 Riverway, Suite 1700, Houston, Texas 77056, (713) 869-4747 or (800) 910-FIRM.