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Are Medical errors—the third leading cause of death in Ireland?

  • 19-01-2017 11:26am
    #1
    joefromireland
    Registered Users Posts: 49 ✭


    Just reading this news on RTE
    A Health Service Executive recall of 615 patients who attended Wexford General Hospital has identified 13 "possible missed cancers".
    The cases relate to the care provided by one consultant, between March 2013 and November 2014, in relation to colonoscopies, which are bowel checks.
    Of the 13 cancers detected on recall, one case involved a man who died before the review.
    The details are contained in a HSE report given to families.
    Just reading this news on RTE prompted me to ask the question are medical errors the third leading cause of death in Ireland ,this is the case in the US where the third leading cause of death after heart attacks and cancer is medical errors, this is not widely known to the public.
    Medical errors kill more people than car crashes or new disease outbreaks. They kill more people annually than breast cancer, AIDS, plane crashes, or drug overdoses.
    See this youtube video where Berine Sanders chairs a senate sub committee on this topic where, it is claimed the medical errors kill 1000 people per day and cause 10,000 serious complications per day in the US.
    Do we place to much trust in the medical profession to save our lives and should we ask more questions about how it conducts it's business?

    Tagged:


Comments

  • #2
    osarusan
    Registered Users Posts: 16,542 ✭✭✭✭osarusan


    Ireland and the USA are very different in terms of access to health care, so even if that statement is true about the USA (and I would like to see how the statistic was arrived at), there's no reason to assume the same statistic would hold true for Ireland.


  • #3
    srsly78
    Registered Users Posts: 7,157 ✭✭✭srsly78


    The reason common diseases aren't #1 is because of the effectiveness of modern medicine, did you just overlook that part? The reason cancer is #1 is because people live longer.

    Basically your supposition is a hilarious misuse of statistics.


  • #4
    gramar
    Closed Accounts Posts: 12,045 ✭✭✭✭gramar


    The leading cause of death in Ireland is birth.


  • #5
    pickarooney
    Moderators, Arts Moderators Posts: 35,059 Mod ✭✭✭✭pickarooney


    If someone dies because of an undiagnosed cancer then the cause of death is cancer.

    Medical error is only the cause of death in case of a botched surgery, incorrect prescription or similar.

    I'd say it's not in the top 50 causes of death.


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