QSEN - Answers In 1999, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released its landmark report, To Err Is Human,
which stated that between 44,000 and 98,000 people die each year in US hospitals due to medical
errors.
That is more than the number of people who die in a given year from motor vehicle accidents, breast
cancer, or AIDs. In fact, every day-and-a-half, a fully-loaded Boeing 747 airplane3 would have to fall from
the sky before airline passenger loss of life would surpass hospital patient loss of life.4
QSEN - Answers A study from 2000 showed that during one year, as many as 18,000 patients in Australia
died from medical errors and more than 50,000 patients were disabled.5
Also in 2000, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed that each year nearly 2
million patients in the United States get an infection while being treated for another illness or injury, and
nearly 88,000 die as a direct or indirect result of this infection — adding nearly $5 billion to health care
costs every year. 6
A 2001 study showed that nearly 12 percent of hospital admissions in the United Kingdom involve some
form of adverse event. 7
Medication-related errors are estimated to account for about 7,000 deaths each year in the US,
according to a 1997 study, and can increase a 700-bed hospital's operating costs by more than $3 million
annually. 8
According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), more than one million patient
safety incidents occurred to hospitalized Medicare patients in the US over the years 2002 to 2004,
causing more than 250,000 deaths and costing $9.3 billion.9
Why Medical Error - Answers Diagnosing and treating patients is incredibly complex.
Practitioners are often not adequately trained or prepared to deliver care as a well-integrated team.
Errors often occur as a result of flawed processes or systems of care — not because of negligent or
irresponsible individuals.