Secrecy Shields Medical Mishaps From Public View

According to a national investigation by Hearst Newspapers, many hospitals are still failing to report medical errors even after a report issued in 1999 outlined the need for reforms. The report, written by 22 physicians, called for improvements in patient safety and a nationwide system to track hospital errors. The newspaper's investigation found that ten years after the report many hospitals have been slow to institute change and lobby groups have fought against a national registry for hospital errors. San Francisco Chronicle

More Than 100,000 Preventable Patient Deaths Occur In Hospitals Every Year

According to the National Institute of Medicine, more than 100,000 patients die in hospitals every year as a result of avoidable errors. Errors may be committed by doctors, nurses, radiology techs, pathology secretaries, aides, food service workers, computer programmers, lab techs, or any of the more than 100 employee classifications working in hospitals. See the full report of the National Institute of Health, entitled To Err Is Human, www.nap.edu/openbook.php?isbn=0309068371