98,000 Deaths from Medical Errors Each Year

Key Findings from the Institute of Medicine Report on Building a Safer Health System

Frequency of Medical Errors
In 2000 the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released a major report¹ on medical errors titled To Err is Human. The report found that medical errors may cause up to 98,000 deaths per year. That number would make death from medical error the sixth largest cause of death in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).²

The costs of these medical errors are enormous. The report estimated the total cost of preventable medical errors at up to $29 billion. Over half of that number is healthcare costs.³

Methodology
IOM based its findings on two prior studies⁴ that found:

• Adverse events occurred in up to 3.7 percent of hospitalizations;
• Of all adverse events, up to 13.6% led to death; and
• Over 50% of those adverse events were preventable.

Medical Errors: An Established Problem
The IOM report also cites The Harvard Medical Practice Study⁵, a landmark study of medical malpractice, which found:

• 8 times as many people are injured by medical malpractice as file a claim; and
• 16 times as many people are injured as receive any kind of compensation

The IOM also found that further studies corroborated the Harvard Report findings. In fact, most people who are injured never pursue a claim.

The Costs of Medical Malpractice
Research from the healthcare quality ratings company HealthGrades suggests that the human toll of medical errors may be far higher, with preventable errors and negligence taking the lives of 195,000 people each year⁶. Further, the IOM study finds that 2 of every 100 patients admitted to hospitals experienced a preventable adverse effect due to drug error. On average, medication errors alone increased hospital costs by $2.8 million annually for a 700-bed teaching hospital. The researchers/authors extrapolated from this that on a national scale, medication errors alone cost hospitals about $2 billion annually.

Recommendations
The IOM recommendations include:

• the creation of a nationwide mandatory reporting system for medical errors;
• making data on medical errors accessible to the public; and
• creating a Congressionally chartered agency to monitor the problem of medical error.

1. Kohn, Linda T.; Corrigan, Janet M.; Donaldson , Molla S. To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System. Institute of Medicine. 2000

2. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/deaths.htm Viewed on 3/1/2005

3. Bates, David W.; Spell, Nathan; Cullen, David J., et al. "The Costs of Adverse Drug Events in Hospitalized Patients," Journal of the American Medical Association, 277:307-311, 1997.

4. Brennan, Troyen A.; Leape, Lucian L.; Laird, Nan M., et al. "Incidence of adverse events and negligence in hospitalized patients: Results of the Harvard Medical Practice Study I," N Engl J Med. 324:370-376, 1991.

   See also: Leape, Lucian L.; Brennan, Troyen A.; Laird, Nan M., et al. "The Nature of Adverse Events in Hospitalized Patients: Results of the Harvard Medical Practice Study II," N Engl J Med. 324(6):377-384, 1991.

   See also: Thomas, Eric J.; Studdert, David M.; Burstin, Helen R., et al. Incidence and Types of Adverse Events and Negligent Care in Utah and Colorado. Med Care Forthcoming Spring 2000.

5. Harvard Medical Practice Study, Patients, Doctors and Lawyers: Medical Injury, Malpractice Litigation, and Patient Compensation in New York (1990).

6. "Patient Safety in American Hospitals," HealthGrades, July 2004, www.healthgrades.com

March 15, 2005