·Popular past posts ·

Let's talk about death. Besides natural causes, what else causes death? Accidents, suicide, homicide, acts of war, and the practice of medicine.

"The human cost of medical errors is high. Based on the findings of one major study, medical errors kill some 44,000 people in U.S. hospitals each year. Another study puts the number much higher, at 98,000. Even using the lower estimate, more people die from medical mistakes each year than from highway accidents, breast cancer, or AIDS." -- Institute of Medicine, 2000

At the lower estimate, medicine is the 8th leading cause of death in the US. But wait, there's more. These figures do not include people who pick up infections from hospitalization:

"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that 2 million people annually acquire infections while hospitalized and 90,000 people die from those infections."

I know what you're thinking... But what about me? Find out the odds of your own death.

{ 4:16 PM }

.