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40,000 DAILY HospitalMedical Mistakes

Efforts to make hospitals safer are provingineffective. A large study conducted between 2002

and 2007 found that harm to patients was stillcommon, and that the number of incidents was notdecreasing over time.

Identified preventable problems included severebleeding during an operation, breathing troublecaused by an improperly performed procedure, a fallthat caused nerve damage and a dislocated hip, andvaginal cuts caused by a vacuum device during abirthing procedure.

The New York Times reports:

"... [I]nstead of improvements, the researchers found a high rate of problems. About 18 percent of patientswere harmed by medical care, some more thanonce, and 63.1 percent of the injuries were judged tobe preventable."

S ources: New York Times November 24, 2010

New England Journal of Medicine November 25,2010; 363(22):2124-34

Dr. Mercolas Comments:

One of the reasons why I am so passionate aboutsharing preventive health strategies with you -- tipslike eating right, exercising and reducing stress -- isbecause they can help you to stay out of thehospital.

And as much as possible, the hospital is a place youclearly want to avoid at all costs, except in cases of accidental trauma or surgical emergencies (such asappendicitis).Over the last 10 years, hospitals have been well

aware of their dismal patient safety ratings andunacceptable rates of injury and errors. But effortsmeant to improve patient safety have fallen wayshort.

It's Common to be Harmed by Medical Care inHospitals

The latest study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that from 2002 to 2007,harm to patients at 10 North Carolina hospitals

(hospitals that were involved in programs to improvepatient safety) was common and did not decrease.Instead, 18 percent of patients were harmed bymedical care (some repeatedly) and over 63 percentof the injuries could have been prevented. In nearly2.5 percent of these cases, the problems caused or contributed to a person's death. In another 3percent, patients suffered from permanent injury,

while over 8 percent experienced life-threateningissues, such as sev ere bleeding during surgery.Most often, patients suffered complications frommedical procedures or drugs, or came down with ahospital-acquire d infection. Other problems als ooccurred because hospitals failed to preventinfections and mistakes caused by urinary catheters,ventilators and lines inserted into veins and arteries.In all, there were over 25 injuries per 100admissions a frighteningly high statistic for ahealth care system that demands more than twicethe amount of spending as health care in other developed nations.

Research on Hospitals Paints a Grim Picture

The New England Journal of Medicine study onlyadds to the growin g roster of evidence highli ghtingthe sad state of safety in many U.S. hospitals.The HealthGrades Patient Safety in AmericanHospitals Study, released in March 2010, found that"patient safety incidents," which is a nice way of saying "preventable medical mistakes," are commonin U.S. hospitals. In all, over the years 2006-2008,there were nearly 1 million incidents amongMedicare patients , and one in 10 of them weredeadly.

The HealthGrades report pointed out that "theincidence rate of medical harm occurring isestimated to be over 40 ,000 each and EVERY dayaccording to the Institute for Healt hcareImprovement."

You read that right: 40,000 medical mistakes a day!Further, in the United States, more than 2 millionpeople are affected by hospital-acquired infectionsevery year, and 100,000 people die as a result . In

one of the largest nationally representative studiesto date, released earlier this year, it was found that48,000 people died due to sepsis or pneumoniacaused by hospital-acquired infections alone!The saddest part is, virtually every one of theseinfections could likely have been prevented withbetter infection control in hospitals.

Recent studies have shown that hospital-acquiredinfections are not a normal side-effect of caring for the seriously ill, but are generally caused by poor medical care. This includes not only contaminated

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medical devices but also spreading germs frompatient-to-patient.

Doctors and nurses not washing their hands prior totouching a patient is the most common violation inhospitals. According to findings by the SeattleTimes , in the worst ca ses, as few as 40 percent of staff me mbers comply with han d-washing standards,

with do ctors being the worst offenders.But eve n the best hospitals ha d no better than 90percent compliance -- which means one out of 10practitioners may have contaminated hands evenunder the best circumstances.

U.S. Ranks Last for Unnecessary Deaths and49th for Life Expectancy

The U.S. now ranks LAST out of 19 countries for unnecessary deaths -- deaths that could have beenavoided through timely and effective medical care.Additionally, one-third of adults with health problemsreported mistakes in their care in 2007, and rates of visits to physicians or emergency departments for adverse drug effects increased by one-third between2001 and 2004.

The United States also now ranks 49th for male andfemale life expectancy worldwide , a ranking that hasfallen sharply from fifth place in 1 950.

Among the most likely suspects for Americans'declining health were not obesity, traffic accidents,murder or other "big killers" you might suspect.Rather, researchers pointed to unnecessary medicalprocedures and an uncoordinated system withfragmented care, where patients rely on numerousproviders to treat various bits and pieces of aproblem, rather than seeking out one provider whowill treat them as a w hole.

The problem is complex, but as it stands, due topoor safety procedures, inadequate staffing andtraining, and more, you risk being harmed any timeyou enter a hospital. Among the top mistakes andmishaps to be aware of are:

Adverse drug reactions Hospital-acquired infections Medical tubing errors Radiotherapy accidents Surgical errors

How to Stay Out of the Hospital

By nourishing your physical and mental health withthe proper tools, you can drastically lower your chances of needing to go to the hospital. You will

need to take control of your health to do so andavoid becoming another sad statistic.

Remember, some of the best ways to improve your health are very inexpensive. Some are even free.Below I've listed a number of these basic strategiesyou can use to avoid getting sucked into the currentdisease-care paradigm.

Following th ese guidelines will be a powerful way toavoid premature aging, and improve your health, nomatter what your age, so you can avoid having totake your chances in a hospital.

Address your emotional traumas andmanage your stress

Get optimal exposure to sunlight , a safetanning bed or take oral vitamin D if this isnot possible to optimize your vitamin D levels

Drink plenty of clean water Limit your exposure to toxins Consume healthy fat Eat a healthy diet thats right for your

nutritional type (paying very careful attentionto keeping your insulin levels down)

Eat plenty of raw food Optimize your insulin and leptin levels Exercise , especially higher intensity ones like

Peak Fitness Get plenty of good sleep

What t o do if You Have to go to the H ospital

In the event that you need to spend time in ahospita l, you need to b e your own patient-safetyadvocate, and also ask a family member or friend toact as one for you when you 're not able.

Remem ber, first and foremost, tha t your life is in thehands of your health care providers, and you haveevery right to be informed about every procedurethat is p erformed on you. So be vigilant in askingquestio ns about medication s, medical proceduresand sur gery before they are given to you or performed.

You will also want to ask your physicians and nursesto double-check their orders before injecting a druginto your IV, administering radiation , hooking upmedical tubing or performing surgery to make surethey have the right body part, procedure, tube,dosage, etc. You can also ask your providers towash their hands when they come into your room.

The HealthGrades 2010 report also found major discrepancies in medical errors between thehospitals at the top of the list and those at thebottom, so if you have a choice of hospitals, do your research first. You can find patient-safety ratings at

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hospitals across the United States from theHealthGrades Web site .

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/12/15/study-finds-no-progress-in-safety-at-hospitals.aspx

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