
Johns Hopkins study suggests medical errors are 3rd-leading cause of death in US - villaaston1
https://hub.jhu.edu/2016/05/03/medical-errors-third-leading-cause-of-death/
======
slg
Any statistic can lie, but this one is even more susceptible considering that
vague definition of what constitutes a "medical error". I remember looking at
this study when it was first published (there should be a 2016 in the title by
the way) and it basically attributed any action by a doctor that resulted in a
negative outcome as a medical error. For example, that could include a doctor
prescribing a treatment that is successful for 99.9999% of patients, but if it
fails for that one patient it would be an error.

~~~
manjushri
That seems like a reasonable definition, not a lie.

>could include a doctor prescribing a treatment that is successful for
99.9999% of patients

Sure it could, but that is an edge case that would account for a negligible
number of deaths in relation to the sum total.

~~~
throwaway1909
Meds aren't always so black and white. A treatment or drug may be successful
in 70% of patients (or even 10%), and still properly prescribed when the
potential harms outweigh the benefit.

~~~
manjushri
Indeed. However, there are massive monetary incentives and influences to
perscribe treatment even though the risk/benefit ratio may not be in the
patient's favor.

~~~
throwaway1909
Whoa there. Pretty impressive accusation as you're describing malpractice. Why
don't you cite a source or two?

~~~
manjushri
Doctor who ordered unnecessary heart surgery and risky tests jailed for 20
years

Dr Harry Persaud of Ohio made more than $7m from health insurance fraud while
abusing patients’ ‘sacred trust’, says FBI

[https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/dec/22/doctor-
who-o...](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/dec/22/doctor-who-ordered-
unnecessary-heart-surgery-and-risky-tests-jailed-for-20-years)

Moreland Hills doctors performed unnecessary tests, illegally prescribed
drugs, feds say

[http://www.cleveland.com/court-
justice/index.ssf/2018/01/mor...](http://www.cleveland.com/court-
justice/index.ssf/2018/01/moreland_hills_doctors_perform.html)

The $395 billion US pharmaceutical industry spent $5.2 billion on advertising
prescription drugs directly to consumers in 2015

Every $1.00 spent advertising prescription drugs is estimated to increase
their retail sales by $4.20

[https://prescriptiondrugs.procon.org](https://prescriptiondrugs.procon.org)

Doctors received more than $46 million from drug companies marketing opioids

[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-
nation/wp/2017/08/0...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-
nation/wp/2017/08/09/study-doctors-received-more-than-46-million-from-drug-
companies-marketing-opioids/?utm_term=.704b6be50c2e)

------
secstate
Gonna post before reading (mistake alert), but was just reading The Patient's
Playbook by Leslie Michelson and it begins by talking about what a clustercuss
the US healthcare system is.

You'd think your primary care physician would know what medications you are
on, and what specialists you'd seen, but they don't work like that unless you
laboriously tell them everything you received when they weren't staring at
you. It's inefficient to say the least. And it's borderline negligent too.

------
Alex3917
IIRC this is only looking at hospitals, and it’s likely the second if you
include outpatient clinics, nursing homes, etc.

Excessive medical care is why the upper middle class have longer life
expectancies than the super wealthy.

------
adamnemecek
Ive heard this statistic before and it's not all that surprising. One of my
"mental models" is that humans tend to be pretty bad at things.

------
collyw
Its not mentioned in the article but almost all the doctors I have spoken to
seem to have needed to do ridiculous shifts as junior doctors straight out of
university. You are doing a highly skilled job under extreme conditions. Most
say they get used to it, but still, it doesn't sound like the best idea.

