Guest guest Posted November 29, 2003 Report Share Posted November 29, 2003 http://www.garynull.com/documents/iatrogenic/deathbymedicine/DeathByMedicine6.ht\ m#HEALTH%20INSURANCE Outpatient Iatrogenesis Dr. Barbara Starfield in a 2000 JAMA paper presents us with well-documented facts that are both shocking and unassailable.12 The U.S. ranks twelfth out of 13 countries in a total of 16 health indicators. Japan, Sweden, and Canada were first, second, and third. More than 40 million people have no health insurance. 20% to 30% of patients receive contraindicated care. Dr. Starfield warns that one cause of medical mistakes is the overuse of technology, which may create a " cascade effect " leading to more treatment. She urges the use of ICD (International Classification of Diseases) codes which have designations called: " Drugs, Medicinal, and Biological Substances Causing Adverse Effects in Therapeutic Use " and " Complications of Surgical and Medical Care " to help doctors quantify and recognize the magnitude of the medical error problem. Starfield says that, at present, deaths actually due to medical error are likely to be coded according to some other cause of death. She concludes that against the backdrop of our abysmal health report card compared to the rest of the Westernized countries, we should recognize that the harmful effects of health care interventions account for a substantial proportion of our excess deaths. Starfield cites Weingart’s 2000 paper, “Epidemiology of Medical Error” on outpatient iatrogenesis. And Weingart, in turn, cites Johnson and Bootman, who asked pharmacists to estimate the probability of adverse outcomes occurring as a result of outpatient drug treatment. Statistics showed that between 4% to 18% of consecutive patients in outpatient settings suffer an iatrogenic event leading to: 112 116 million extra physician visits 77 million extra prescriptions 17 million emergency department visits 8 million hospitalizations 3 million long-term admissions 199,000 additional deaths $77 billion in extra costs Unnecessary Surgeries There are 12,000 deaths per year from unnecessary surgeries. However, results from the few studies that have measured unnecessary surgery directly indicate that for some highly controversial operations, the fraction that are unwarranted could be as high as 30%.74 IT'S A GLOBAL ISSUE A survey published in the Journal of Health Affairs pointed out that between 18% and 28% of people who were recently ill had suffered from a medical or drug error in the previous two years. The study surveyed 750 recently-ill adults in five different countries. The breakdown by country showed 18% of those in Britain, 25% in Canada, 23% in Australia, 23% in New Zealand, and the highest number was in the U.S. at 28%.113 HEALTH INSURANCE A recent finding by the Institute of Medicine is that the 41 million Americans without health insurance have consistently worse clinical outcomes than those that are insured, and are at increased risk for dying prematurely.114 Insurance Fraud When doctors bill for services they do not render, advise unnecessary tests, or screen everyone for a rare condition, they are committing insurance fraud. The U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) gave a 1998 figure of $12 billion dollars lost to fraudulent or unnecessary claims, and reclaimed $480 million in judgments in that year. In 2001, the Federal government won or negotiated more than $1.7 billion in judgments, settlements, and administrative impositions in healthcare fraud cases and proceedings.115 previous next © 2003 Gary Null & Associates, Inc. (GNA) NEW WEB MESSAGE BOARDS - JOIN HERE. Alternative Medicine Message Boards.Info http://alternative-medicine-message-boards.info Free Pop-Up Blocker - Get it now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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