Are medical malpractice lawsuits driving up healthcare costs in the U.S.? Or do medical professionals - including doctors, hospitals, pharmaceutical and medical device companies - shoulder most of the blame? According to recent data, the medical establishment, not the victims of malpractice, is largely to blame.
"The United States loses more American lives to patient safety incidents every six months than it did in the entire Vietnam War," according to findings by HealthGrades, the country's leading health care rating organization. As a result, the organization noted, the number of patient deaths caused by medical errors is the equivalent of crashing three fully loaded jumbo jets every other day for five years.
Other findings include:
•· About 98,000 people die each year from malpractice in U.S. hospitals, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
•· Medical errors kill more people each year than car accidents (43,458), breast cancer (42,297) or AIDS (16,516) according to a 2000 article on medical errors, published in the Institute of Medicine.
•· Medical negligence caused 181,000 severe injuries in 2003, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
•· In one month, 15,000 Medicare patients - 1.5 percent of all Medicare beneficiaries - experienced an event by care providers that contributed to their death, according to a 2010 report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Multiple Errors Lead to Medical Malpractice Cases
Medical malpractice cases vary widely, from misdiagnosing cancer or another disease, to injuring a baby during delivery. Errors or incidents that commonly lead to medical malpractice lawsuits include:
- Anesthesia errors
- Medical errors
- Surgery mistakes
- Birth injury
- Cancer misdiagnosis
Hospitals in South Carolina and across the country have their work cut out for them in reducing these errors.
Attention to Procedures Can Lower Costs and Save Lives
Fortunately, institutional efforts to improve patient outcomes can produce dramatic results. For example, a 2011 study by the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department in New York's Cornell Weill/Columbia Presbyterian Hospital reported a 99 percent decline in malpractice claims after the department re-examined and modified policies and procedures. The hospital's malpractice premiums also dropped as a result.
