Estimating Hospital Deaths Due to Medical Errors

Abstract

The number of deaths in US hospitals that are reportedly due to medical errors is disturbingly high. A recent Institute of Medicine report quoted rates estimating that medical errors kill between 44 000 and 98 000 people a year in US hospitals.¹ These widely quoted statistics have helped create initiatives directed at patient safety throughout the United States. The numbers are undeniably startling; they suggest that more Americans are killed in US hospitals every 6 months than died in the entire Vietnam War, and some have compared the alleged rate to 3 fully loaded jumbo jets crashing every other day.² Widely disseminated quotes include, "medical mistakes kill 180 000 people a year in US hospitals"³ and "medical errors may be the 5th leading cause of death."⁴ If these inferences are correct, the health care system is a public health menace of epidemic proportions.