Medical errors cause up to 98,000 deaths and more than 1 million injuries each year in the United States

Dr. Christopher Landrigan

In 1999 a report from the Institute of Medicine stated that medical errors cause up to 98,000 deaths and more than 1 million injuries each year in the United States.  There was a major response from a number of concerned groups to improve patient safety.  Some initiatives have been demonstrated to have a positive effect.  Others have not been evaluated rigorously or have not been implemented on a wide scale.


A "Special Article" in the New England Journal of Medicine by Christopher Landrigan, et al. eloquently notes that not much improvement has actually occurred.  The article, "Temporal Trends in Rates of Patient Harm Resulting from Medical Care" is a must read for those concerned about patient safety.  Soon after it's publication, Denise Grady of the New York Times wrote an article based on the study by Dr. Landrigan.


In the decade that passed since the report from the Institute of Medicine, only 17% of hospitals have computerized systems for ordering prescriptions, which is a source of medication errors.