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This article in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) documents the tragedy of the traditional medical paradigm.
12,000 -----unnecessary surgery
7,000 -----medication errors in hospitals
20,000 ----other errors in hospitals
80,000 ----infections in hospitals
106,000 ---non-error, negative effects of drugs What does the word iatrogenic
mean? This term is defined as induced in a patient by a physician's activity,
manner, or therapy. Used especially of a complication of treatment. Dr. Starfield offers several
warnings in interpreting these numbers: If the higher estimates are
used, the deaths due to iatrogenic causes would range from 230,000 to
284,000. In any case, 225,000 deaths per year constitutes the third leading
cause of death in the United States, after deaths from heart disease and
cancer. Even if these figures are overestimated, there is a wide margin
between these numbers of deaths and the next leading cause of death (cerebrovascular
disease). Another analysis
concluded that between 4% and 18% of consecutive patients experience negative
effects in outpatient settings,with: The high cost of the health
care system is considered to be a deficit, but seems to be tolerated under
the assumption that better health results from more expensive care. However, evidence from a few
studies indicates that as many as 20% to 30% of patients receive inappropriate
care. An estimated 44,000 to 98,000
among them die each year as a result of medical errors.2 This might be tolerated if
it resulted in better health, but does it? Of 13 countries in a recent
comparison in the United States ranks an average of 12th (second from the bottom) for
16 available health indicators. More specifically, the ranking of the
US on several indicators was: The poor performance of the
US was recently confirmed by a World Health Organization study, which
used different data and ranked the United States as 15th among 25 industrialized
countries. There is a perception that
the American public "behaves badly" by smoking, drinking, and
perpetrating violence." However the data does not support this assertion. The proportion of females
who smoke ranges from 14% in Japan to 41% in Denmark; in the United
States, it is 24% (fifth best). For males, the range is from 26% in
Sweden to 61% in Japan; it is 28% in the United States (third best). The US ranks fifth best
for alcoholic beverage consumption. These estimates of death due
to error are lower than those in a recent Institutes of Medicine report,
and if the higher estimates are used, the deaths due to iatrogenic causes
would range from 230,000 to 284,000. Even at the lower estimate
of 225,000 deaths per year, this constitutes the third leading cause of
death in the US, following heart disease and cancer. Lack of technology is certainly
not a contributing factor to the US's low ranking.
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