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Third leading cause of death in the U.S. is from medical errors

By Dr. Jerry Lee Hoover N.D.
      Analyzing medical death rate data over an eight-year period, Johns Hopkins patient safety experts have calculated that more than 250,000 deaths per year are due to medical errors in the U.S.   According to several other research studies in the last decade, a total of 225,000 Americans per year have died as a result of their medical treatments from Doctor errors, unnecessary surgeries, hospital errors, deaths due to hospital infections, wrong medications given and deaths from side effects of drugs given.
    So the figures are from 225,000 to 250,000 deaths per year that are due to medical errors, These estimates are for deaths only and do not include negative effects that are associated with disability or discomfort.

     Here are the U.S. Centers for Disease Control Death Statistics for 2016 which does not list Medical errors, but I have inserted it in red in the list below.
 
 Heart disease: 633,842
 Cancer: 595,930
 Medical errors involving Doctors, Hospitals, 225,000 – 251,000
 Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 155,041
 Accidents (unintentional injuries): 146,571
 Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases): 140,323
 Alzheimer’s disease: 110,561
 Diabetes: 79,535
 Influenza and pneumonia: 57,062
 Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis: 49,959
 Intentional self-harm (suicide): 44,193

     
      The authors, led by Johns Hopkins surgeon Dr. Marty Makary, call for changes in death certificates to better tabulate fatal lapses in care. In an open letter, they urge the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to immediately add medical errors to its annual list reporting the top causes of death.
 
     One reason there’s such a wide range of numbers is because accurate data on these kinds of deaths is surprisingly sparse. That’s in part because death certificates don’t ask for enough data, Makary said. Currently the cause of death listed on the certificate has to line up with an insurance billing code. Those codes do not adequately capture human error or system factors.”Billing codes are designed to maximize billing rather than capture medical errors,” Makary said.
   
 
     These statistics were also published in the Journal of American Medical Association, (JAMA), which is the largest and one of the most respected medical journals in the entire world.  Yet this information was not brought out to the public through the mass media of television and radio.  But it did come out through the internet, which is enlightening many individuals on many areas that we were kept in the dark on in the past.

 

     “According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) … 142 Americans die every day from a drug overdose … The opioid epidemic we are facing is unparalleled. The average American would likely be shocked to know that drug overdoses now kill more people than gun homicides and car crashes combined. In fact, between 1999 and 2015, more than 560,000 people in this country died due to drug overdoses …

      Opioids kill patients more frequently than any other medication used for nonfatal conditions,  yet disturbing statistics reveal more than one-third of American adults were prescribed these dangerous drugs in 2015. Even more shocking, opioid overdoses are now the leading cause of death for Americans under the age of 50.  Overdose deaths

are not the only problem associated with skyrocketing opioid use. It’s also causing people to die on our roadways. Statistics reveal driving under the influence of drugs now causes more fatal car crashes than drunken driving.

Of the 1.1 million pregnant women enrolled in Medicaid in 2007, nearly one-quarter of them filled a prescription for an opioid drug. Not surprisingly, statistics reveal a disconcerting rise in neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS). Between 2000 and 2009, the prevalence of NAS increased from 1.2 to nearly 3.4 per 1,000 live births.

 

     The U.S. has the most expensive health care in the world and compared with their counterparts in the industrialized nations.  Among thirteen countries including Japan, Sweden, France and Canada, the U.S. was ranked 12th, based on the measurement of 16 health indicators.  The U.S. was ranked 12th out of 13, this should tell us that something is seriously wrong with our health system, which involves the way our Doctors practice medicine, our hospitals serve their patients, the harmful effects of all the prescribed medications given out, etc.

 
CONCLUSION
     I hope that after reading this article you have become more aware of the dangers of believing and following the advice that your Doctor or Hospital tell you is best for you.

 Read everything you can about your condition, study the risk and benefits of any drugs being prescribed or any test or treatment you are contemplating, using the internet when possible. When in doubt get a second opinion, preferably from an alternative type doctor.

 Remember the majority of Doctors, Hospitals and drug companies are more interested in the money in your pocket than in you as a person.  Sure there are exceptions that why I just wrote the majority not all.  Studies have been done showing that the more health insurance one has, the greater chances are of them dying.  Since their insurance is paying the bill the Doctors and hospital are going to do a lot of extra testing that many times does not need to be done.

      

If you want to stay healthy you need to adopt a healthy lifestyle and be well informed.  Start eating a well balanced wholesome diet, get moderate exercise, stop all your bad habits that are making you sick and destroying your health.

  Start living to take care of that marvelous body God gave each one of us.  Then drugs, surgery and hospitals will only be needed because of accidents, and not because of a person choosing a harmful lifestyle.

 About The Author  
      Dr.  Jerry Lee Hoover N.D. is retired and lives in Granada Nicaragua.  Is the author of three books, NATURAL MEDICINE which has 47 chapters on just about every topic, high blood pressure, arthritis, diabetes, etc. His book is also in Spanish and can be down loaded free from his web site,  (www.cancernaturalcure.com), His second book Natural Ways To Prevent Cancer was published 2 years ago and can be purchased through Amazon Kindle His latest book Radiation From Cell Phones, WiFi, Others can also be purchased through Amazon Kindle

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