- How often is it happening?
- What are the odds it can happen to you?
Medical malpractice really is a touchy subject and in fact it’s so sensitive that for decades the medical establishment has worked successfully to keep accurate numbers hidden from the public. However; thanks to the Internet, and a series of studies that have been conducted over the past few decades all the dirty laundry that for years has been kept tucked away, is hung out for all to see.
Of course people have been aware that for as long as there has been doctors and nurses there have been mistakes being made. Even so, the public in general, for better or worse has for the most part tried to assume the best and stay optimistic. They also tended to mistakenly assume that when a doctor was found to be consistently negligent that he or she would be pulled from the ranks in a timely fashion.
So brace yourself as you read on because the facts contained in this report not only run counter to many commonly held beliefs, they in fact run counter to common sense. Also while it may raise it’s of eyebrows, perhaps it will lead to a more informed public that in turn will be able to make more informed decisions. Decisions that will help folks just like you to not become another victim.
Medical Malpractice Through Misdiagnosis
Would you believe that one of the more recent nationally accredited research efforts determined that some 100,000 people die annually as the result of medical malpractice? That’s the same number of deaths that would result from four fully loaded jumbo jets crashing every week of the year with no survivors! At the same time that same research group determined that fully 30% of those deaths are from misdiagnosis. It’s an outrage!
Medication Errors are Huge
So if doctors are misdiagnosing patients at the rate that they are, it only stands to reason that medication errors factor in there somewhere, and they do. In fact medication errors are one of the largest common denominators in the malpractice equation, harming some 1.5 million people per year in the U.S. alone. That’s .25% of the entire U.S. population!
Sex Abuse By Medical Professionals
Sex is always a hot topic and one would like think that the last place and time you would be subject to sexual misconduct is in a clinical setting by a doctor you are paying to treat you. The real truth though, is that a survey done in the early 1980s had fully 10% of psychiatrists admitting that they had engaged in sexual conduct with emotionally, and psychologically vulnerable patients. Now keep in mind that’s only those who would admit to it. Then they had the gall to bill!
What are Your Odds of Being Injured or Killed?
So now you may be wondering what the chances are that you will be injured, or killed as a result of medical malpractice? Well thanks to that same study done in the 1980′s you don’t have to wonder any longer because on average one out of 100 patients (1%) being treated in a hospital is injured. Then out of that 1%, a full 25% of them will die and that equates to one out of every 400 patients being treated. Those are frightening odds!