The American Iatrogenic Association

[Guest guest]

The American Iatrogenic Association

http://www.iatrogenic.org/

 

 

The American Iatrogenic Association is devoted to the study and

reporting of medical errors that lead to disease and death.

 

In 2000, a presidential task force labelled medical errors

a " national problem of epidemic proportions. " Members estimated that

the " cost associated with these errors in lost income, disability,

and health care costs is as much as $29 billion annually. " That same

year the Institute of Medicine released an historic report, " To err

is human: building a safer health system. " The report's authors

concluded that 44,000 to 98,000 people die each year as a result of

errors during hospitalization. They noted that " even when using the

lower estimate, deaths due to medical errors exceed the number

attributable to the 8th-leading cause of death. " The addition of non-

hospital errors may drive the numbers of errors and deaths much

higher. As the authors note, the hospital data " offer only a very

modest estimate of the magnitude of the problem since hospital

patients represent only a small proportion of the total population at

risk, and direct hospital costs are only a fraction of total costs. "

 

Medical errors are the not only way that consumers are harmed. The

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 2 million

people annually acquire infections while hospitalized and 90,000

people die from those infections. More than 70 percent of hospital-

acquired infections have become resistant to at least one of the

drugs commonly used to treat them, largely due to the overprescribing

of antibiotics by physicians. Staph, the leading cause of hospital

infections, is now resistant to 95 percent of first-choice

antibiotics and 30 percent of second-choice antibiotics. Poor staff

hygiene is considered the leading source for infections acquired

during hospitalizations. But efforts to get medical workers to

improve safety through things as simple as better and more frequent

hand washing have met with little success.

 

There is much disagreement as to what constitutes iatrogenic illness.

For decades, peptic ulcers were said to be caused by an emotional

disorder which prevented afflicted people from managing " stress. "

Physicians instructed many people with ulcers to change their

lifestyles and, in some cases, to take anti-anxiety medications. In

recent years researchers determined that most peptic ulcers were

caused by a bacteria treatable with antibiotics. Were the adverse

emotional and treatment consequences of misdiagnosing ulcers as a

psychiatric illness iatrogenic? Similarly, for many years epilepsy

was said by medical experts to be evidence of pathological

criminality. Epileptics were imprisoned in " colonies, " to isolate

them from the general population. Were the obviously damaging effects

of this " treatment " iatrogenic? Are the present large-scale drugging

of children (mostly boys) diagnosed with " Attention Deficit

Hyperactive Disorder, " and the former " treatment " of homosexuals with

electroconvulsive therapy (shock treatment), insulin coma, and

lobotomy examples of iatrogenic disease? Most physicians would say

they are not, yet the harm resulting from these erroneous diagnoses

and severe " treatments " are no less damaging for the people who

suffered them.

 

AiA casts a bright light on this debate, opening up medicine's murky

side to public scrutiny and offering help to its victims. Our new web

site will accomplish this in various and evolving ways, including:

 

the publishing of articles, essays, studies, book excerpts

making recommendations that will protect you from iatrogenic illness

publishing data on the risks of various medical procedures

investigating ways that an iatrogenically harmed person might be made

well and, when appropriate, compensated for his or her disability and

suffering

legal referrals

offering proposals for political and social changes that reduce

iatrogenic risk and hold perpetrators accountable

an opportunity for iatrogenic victims to share their experiences with

our readers

The site invites the participation of medical, legal, and political

specialists, but it is designed for the general public and to be as

free of obfuscatory medical jargon as possible.

 

If you agree with the objectives of the AIA you can help by making a

donation.

 

Please note that donations to the American Iatrogenic Association are

not tax-deductible.

 

 

Nicolas S. Martin, Executive Director

 

This site contains some files in the Acrobat (pdf) format. The free

Reader necessary to read these files can be downloaded here.

 

Our e-mail address: aia

 

http://www.iatrogenic.org/