A Serious Error in Clinical Practice
- Thread starter T.Bird
- Start date
HereKittyKitty
Explorer
What a dreadful situation for those patients and the people who love them.
In Canada, an estimated 28,000 deaths were caused by medical error during just the past year. That alone gives solid grounds to avoid placing blind faith in hospitals. I mean, they once sliced my abdomen open after concluding I had cancer, and when I came to, it turned out they had gotten it wrong.
Pardon the ai, but medical malpractice fatalities are huge worldwide, bold is mine, and please keep in mind that this is 
underreported:
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), unsafe medical care is responsible for roughly 2.6 million hospital deaths every year across the globe, and the overwhelming share (around 15 million adverse events in total, with twice as many deaths) happens in low- and middle-income countries rather than wealthy ones. [1, 2]
How Malpractice and Preventable Deaths Are Spread Globally
• Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs): These nations carry the largest absolute toll of patient harm and death because of systemic problems such as poor infrastructure, sanitation, and shortages of medical supplies. Research suggests that about two-thirds of adverse medical events take place in these areas.
• High-Income Countries (HICs): Even though HICs have stronger reporting and safety measures, preventable medical errors are still an enormous hidden crisis. In the United States, for instance, estimates link 250,000 to 400,000 deaths each year to medical errors, which places it among the top causes of death.
• OECD Comparisons: Based on data from groups that monitor patient safety, such as the Imperial College London Global State of Patient Safety report, countries with strong tracking systems (including Norway , the UK , and Australia) show lower levels of preventable harm, while nations dealing with limited resources or fragmented systems report more adverse events . [5]
[1] https://www.medmalnj.com/news-events/43-million-medical-errors-occurring-worldwide-study-suggests/
[2] https://zelbst.com/medical-errors-are-one-of-the-worlds-leading-causes-of-death/
[3] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28186008/
[4] https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/is-fatal-medical-error-a-leading-cause-of-death
[5] https://www.imperial.ac.uk/Stories/global-state-of-patient-
safety/
underreported:According to the World Health Organization (WHO), unsafe medical care is responsible for roughly 2.6 million hospital deaths every year across the globe, and the overwhelming share (around 15 million adverse events in total, with twice as many deaths) happens in low- and middle-income countries rather than wealthy ones. [1, 2]
How Malpractice and Preventable Deaths Are Spread Globally
• Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs): These nations carry the largest absolute toll of patient harm and death because of systemic problems such as poor infrastructure, sanitation, and shortages of medical supplies. Research suggests that about two-thirds of adverse medical events take place in these areas.
• High-Income Countries (HICs): Even though HICs have stronger reporting and safety measures, preventable medical errors are still an enormous hidden crisis. In the United States, for instance, estimates link 250,000 to 400,000 deaths each year to medical errors, which places it among the top causes of death.
• OECD Comparisons: Based on data from groups that monitor patient safety, such as the Imperial College London Global State of Patient Safety report, countries with strong tracking systems (including Norway , the UK , and Australia) show lower levels of preventable harm, while nations dealing with limited resources or fragmented systems report more adverse events . [5]
[1] https://www.medmalnj.com/news-events/43-million-medical-errors-occurring-worldwide-study-suggests/
[2] https://zelbst.com/medical-errors-are-one-of-the-worlds-leading-causes-of-death/
[3] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28186008/
[4] https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/is-fatal-medical-error-a-leading-cause-of-death
[5] https://www.imperial.ac.uk/Stories/global-state-of-patient-
safety/
PurpleSage
Explorer
People trust those hands with their lives. It's terrifying, and just so incredibly heartbreaking.
oldrunnerguy
Explorer
After 45 years working as a pharmacist, I retired. Medication errors are something I understand firsthand, since I made some myself, which I deeply regret. The ways these mistakes occur, along with the human elements behind them, are clear to me. None of that makes them acceptable.
What happened here is heartbreaking, and I feel for those harmed and their loved ones. At the same time, my sympathy extends to the person or people responsible for the errors, because I know the weight of guilt carried by anyone even partly involved.
What happened here is heartbreaking, and I feel for those harmed and their loved ones. At the same time, my sympathy extends to the person or people responsible for the errors, because I know the weight of guilt carried by anyone even partly involved.
HereKittyKitty
Explorer
Pharmacists don't get nearly enough credit.
5byfive
Explorer
From what I've seen, seeking a second opinion is something people are often terrible at doing. Everyone makes mistakes, and each person brings their own reasoning, theories, strategies, and viewpoints. When something serious is happening, please consult more than 1 doctor and speak up for yourself. If the responses you receive don't sit right with you, go talk to a different person. Because of the problems and complaints they encounter constantly, doctors build up plenty of assumptions, and it's simple for them to become stuck in 1 particular mindset. This goes double when you're a woman. Many significant conditions affecting women resemble typical hormonal problems, so they often get waved off as being those problems.
bamagirl26
Explorer
yes, I recall a friend who was expecting — the pharmacy was supposed to dispense Metazolone (or something close, a name starting with M, I believe) but handed her methotrexate instead. Fortunately she's sharp and checked the label, since methotrexate is frequently prescribed to bring about an early miscarriage/abortion. I couldn't believe such a careless error had been made.