Is Medical Malpractice the Third Leading Cause of Death in the United States

Does our health system want to kill us? According to many sources, this appears to be the case. Many media outlets, news agencies, and websites claim this to be accurate, based on a report that reported that deadly medical errors cause more than 250,000 deaths a year.

According to this study, deaths from stroke, diabetes, or Alzheimer's disease do not even come close to deaths caused by medical errors.

However, is this really true? New studies and evidence criticize the approximation of the work carried out, which could disconfirm that medical malpractice is actually attributed to so many deaths.

In any case, regardless of the result, it is always important to have a reputable and trustworthy doctor. Injury Rely has a vast network of highly reputable medical professionals. If you need medical assistance but do not know or trust a doctor, you can trust us.

What The Study Says

That cancer and heart disease continue to be the leading causes of death in the United States is not surprising, but what is striking is that the third cause is medical malpractice.

Research published by Martin Makary, a professor of surgery at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, says that security breaches and unintentional errors caused 70% more deaths in the United States than Chronic respiratory diseases, the third leading cause of death according to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). The center's experts concluded that around 250,000 people a year die from medical failures, which means that deaths from stroke, diabetes, or Alzheimer's disease do not even come close to these figures.

"We believe that these data underestimate the true incidence of deaths due to medical malpractice because the studies cited depend on the errors that appear in the records and only consider the deaths of hospitalized patients," reads an analysis of the Johns Hopkins research.

Hopkins researchers analyzed four large studies of medical deaths from 2000 to 2008, including two conducted by federal agencies. The only previous study of patient deaths due to errors was in 1999 by the IOM (Institute of Medicine), which estimated that errors caused up to 98,000 deaths in the United States each year. That number, the researchers said, "is limited and outdated."

It is also important to mention that despite there being no official statistics on deaths caused by medical malpractice, however, recent estimates indicate that they could rise to between 210,000 and 400,000 among hospitalized patients in the United States.

Other studies compare these figures with other countries, and the United States shows a significantly higher rate of medical errors than other countries, such as Canada, Australia, and the UK.

It is also important to mention that there are no official statistics on deaths caused by medical malpractice, however, recent estimates indicate that they could rise to between 210,000 and 400,000 among hospitalized patients in the United States.

Is this Really True?

Without a doubt, these figures are alarming. Seeing this may stop you from wanting to see a doctor and looking for alternatives that may need to be more reliable.

However, this type of study should be taken with caution. A recent article from the Office for Science and Society at Mill University in Canada says this may not be true and criticizes the approach taken by these authors.

The article points out many flaws in the study published by the professors of Johns Hopkins and mentions that this is based on studies whose data should never have been generalized to the entire hospitalized population of the United States.

For example, one study conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General investigated the number of deaths among Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 or older, those with disabilities or end-stage renal disease requiring dialysis or transplant. The study authors counted the number of deaths in their sample, which they believed were caused by medical malpractice, and this number was used in the analysis made by professors of Johns Hopkins to extrapolate to all US hospitalizations.

However, the mistake was made of extrapolating an observation found in one sample to a different type of population. Taking mortality statistics from a sample of Medicare patients and extrapolating them to all hospitalized patients is not a fair comparison.

Making the Wrong Assumption of the Data

Moreover, the studies whose results were averaged for the analysis made by professors of Johns Hopkins did not attempt to uncover preventable deaths but were conducted to round out the numbers on healthcare harms. Though the damage can lead to death, this causal link must be properly evaluated, which was not the case in those studies.

For instance, let’s imagine a patient who enters the intensive care unit with multisystem organ failure due to an infection. Doctors mistakenly give the patient an antibiotic to which he or she has had an allergic reaction in the past, and the patient develops a rash from the antibiotic. The antibiotic is changed, but a week later, the patient dies because his organs stop working. Yes, a medical error was made, but it probably did not cause the patient's death. 

Using studies that identify medical malpractice that was followed by death to declare that these medical errors necessarily caused these deaths is not fair. These studies don't take into account how long these patients would have lived if they had received optimal medical care, which can skew the impact of medical errors.

What are the Consequences?

It is important not to exaggerate the scope of a very real problem. In 2019, the National Rifle Association released a video claiming that medical malpractice was deadlier than guns. Specifically, they claimed that deaths from medical errors were 500 times higher than deaths from accidental gun incidents. 

This claim simply provides ammunition to irresponsible gun owners who use it to deflect criticism. This claim has also been used by believers in alternative medicine to paint conventional medicine as dangerous while promoting their pseudomedical practices as safe.

In Conclusion

Apparently, the study carried out by doctors at Johns Hopkins University contains statistical flaws in the sampling and interpretation of the data, which would explain the discrepancy when comparing the data from the United States with other countries.

Despite this, it was the basis of many reports and articles in different media, creating an alarmist sensation and a sense of distrust against medical personnel.

Regardless of the study's veracity, we must not dismiss the fact that medical malpractice can affect us in some way. In these cases, it is good to have a respectable doctor you can trust.

If you don't know one, we can provide one for you. Injury Rely is a trusted referral service that connects personal injury victims with top-notch medical professionals in the US. We have a vast network of highly respected medical professionals willing to help you.

If you want more information, you can consult our blog. Do not hesitate to Contact us; we will connect you with the right medical service providers efficiently and effectively.