U.S. Hospitals Fail to Improve Patient Safety, Injure or Kill Thousands Every Day

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Avoid the hospital like the plague! Horrible

statistics!

U.S.

Hospitals Fail to Improve Patient Safety and Injure and Kill Thousands Every

Day

Posted by Dr. Mercola | April 13 2010

Nearly 1 million patient-safety

incidents occurred among Medicare patients over the years 2006, 2007, and 2008

-- the figure remained virtually unchanged since last year’s annual study.

In all, the incidents were associated with $8.9 billion in costs.

Some of the most common and most

serious indicators even worsened, including decubitus ulcer (bed sores),

iatrogenic pneumothorax (collapsed lung), post-operative hip fracture,

post-operative physiologic and metabolic derangements, post-operative pulmonary

embolism (potentially fatal blood clots forming in the lungs) or deep vein

thrombosis (blood clots in the legs), post-operative sepsis, and transfusion

reaction.

One

in 10 patients -- almost 100,000 people all told -- experiencing a

patient-safety incident died as a result.

Patients at hospitals in the top 5

percent experienced 43 percent fewer patient safety incidents, on average. If

all hospitals performed at this level, more than 218,000 patient safety

incidents and over 22,000 deaths could potentially have been avoided, saving $2

billion over three years.

Sources:

Newswise March

30, 2010

HealthGrades

Patient Safety in American Hospitals Study March 2010

 

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

I have said it before and

I’m going to say it again now: I recommend avoiding hospitals whenever

practically possible as they are one of the most unhealthy environments to be

in.

About the only time they are

appropriate is to recover from the results of unexpected accidental traumas or

repair surgical emergencies like appendicitis.

Unfortunately, it is becoming all

too common for people to go into the hospital for a “routine” surgery

or medical procedure, only to contract a severe hospital-acquired infection or

succumb to an adverse drug reaction or other medication mishap.

According to the latest study,

“patient safety incidents,” which is a nice way of saying

“preventable medical mistakes,” are common in U.S. hospitals.

In all, over the years 2006-2008, there were nearly 1 million incidents among

Medicare patients, and one in 10 of them were deadly.

What Does the Most Expensive

Health Care System in the World Get You?

40,000 medical mistakes a day

…

That’s right. The HealthGrades

report pointed out that “the incidence rate of medical harm occurring is

estimated to be over

40,000 each and EVERY day according to the Institute for

Healthcare Improvement!”

Most people, including most health

care professionals, simply do not understand that hospitals account for over ONE-THIRD of the $2.5 trillion the United States spends for

" health care. " This is TRIPLE what we surrender to drug

companies.

It would not be so bad if we

actually received major benefits for this investment, but, as this report --

and others -- illustrate, this frequently is not the case.

Ten years ago, Professor Bruce

Pomerance of the University of Toronto concluded that properly prescribed and

correctly taken pharmaceutical drugs were the fourth leading cause of death in North America.

More recently, Johns Hopkins

Medical School

refined this research and discovered that medical errors and prescription drugs

may actually be the

LEADING cause of death, outpacing cancer (which is now our deadliest

disease).

Your Health May Not be Safe

in the Hands of the U.S.

Medical Care System

The U.S. health system is in a

continual downward spiral -- something I’ve been warning people about for

more than two decades -- and despite the ever-increasing amounts of money

invested, your chances of achieving optimal health through it are only getting

worse.

The U.S. now ranks

LAST out of 19 countries for unnecessary deaths

-- deaths that could have been avoided through timely and effective medical

care. Additionally, one-third of adults with health problems reported mistakes

in their care in 2007, and rates of visits to physicians or emergency

departments for adverse drug effects increased by one-third between 2001 and

2004.

In the United States, more than 2 million

people are affected by hospital-acquired

infections every year as well, and 100,000 people die as a result.

In essence, what we have here is a

trend of health care costs rising, mistakes increasing, and pharmaceutical

drug-induced side effects and deaths skyrocketing.

If You Must Go Into a

Hospital, Do Your Homework …

In the event that you must go to a

hospital, you should know that all are not created equal.

The HealthGrades 2010 report found

major discrepancies between the hospitals at the top of the list and those at

the bottom:

“Patients at hospitals in the

top 5% -- 2010 HealthGrades Patient Safety Excellence Award™ recipients

-- experienced 43% fewer patient safety incidents, on average, compared to

poorly performing hospitals. If all hospitals performed at this level, 218,572 patient

safety incidents and 22,590 deaths could potentially have been avoided, saving

$2.0 billion from 2006 through 2008.”

You can find patient-safety ratings at

hospitals across the United States from the HealthGrades Web site.

Likewise, deaths attributed to

medication errors rise by as much as 25 percent above normal in the first

few days of every month, because there often isn't enough staff to handle

the beginning-of-the-month spike in prescriptions. Being

admitted on a Friday has also been linked to longer hospital stays,

so if you can time your stay to avoid these periods, so much the better.

How to Avoid Becoming a

Statistic

This article will hopefully serve as

yet another major wake-up call, providing solid evidence that the conventional

health care system is desperately in need of radical change.

You need to know that you CAN Take

Control of Your Health. The first step is to follow my free

comprehensive online recommendations. If you would like more details you

can review

my book. These tools will help you to reduce your reliance on the broken

health care system in the United

States.

The guidelines that follow are more

basic strategies to live by; strategies that will boost your health and

well-being naturally to keep you OUT of the hospital and enjoying life!

1.

Address

your emotional traumas and manage

your stress

2.

Get

optimal exposure to sunlight or a safe tanning bed or take oral vitamin D

if this is not possible

3.

Drink

plenty of clean water

4.

Limit your exposure

to toxins

5.

Consume healthy

fat

6.

Eat a healthy diet

that’s right for your nutritional

type (paying very careful attention to keeping your insulin levels down)

7.

Eat plenty of raw

food

8.

Optimize

your insulin

and leptin

levels

9.

Exercise

10.

Get

plenty of good sleep