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posted by martyb on Tuesday October 27 2015, @07:27PM   Printer-friendly
from the added-surgical-risk dept.

About half of all surgeries involve some kind of medication error or unintended drug side effects, if a new study done at one of America’s most prestigious academic medical centers is any indication.

The rate, calculated by researchers from the anesthesiology department at Massachusetts General Hospital who observed 277 procedures there, is startlingly high compared with those in the few earlier studies. Those earlier studies relied mostly on self-reported data from clinicians, rather than directly watching operations, and found errors to be exceedingly rare.

“There is a substantial potential for medication-related harm and a number of opportunities to improve safety,” according to the new study, published today in the journal Anesthesiology . More than one-third of the observed errors led to some kind of harm to the patient.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-10-25/health-medication-errors-happen-in-half-of-all-surgeries

[Also Covered By]: http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/medication-errors-occur-half-surgeries-mgh-study-finds/2015-10-26


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 28 2015, @11:50AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 28 2015, @11:50AM (#255518)

    Hey if #1 doesn't get you there's a good chance #2 will. So yeah, you could argue that "cancer is on the rise". But why? Ahh. People used to die younger of heart disease.

    Strange, the majority of the people I know who have suffered or are suffering from cancer are in their 20s and 30s.

    As for your mortality statistics. Yes, I have heard this at least 1000 times before. It is like you are reading out of the apologist handbook or something. Answer me this. How far back do your statistics go? For how many centuries do we have accurate birth and death records for the majority of the population. I'd hazard a guess that going back more than 100 years, you don't have very accurate birth and death records for anywhere outside of the bigger cities and towns. Guess what!? up until about 100 years ago, most of the major cities and towns were unsanitary cesspits of death.

    Add that to the factors, such as endemic lead poisoning, which had been a factor for heightened mortality rates since at least the 17th century until the middle of the 20th century, and I think we have a large portion of the factors causing the statistical apparency that lifespans have gotten longer. As another AC pointed out, look at the lifespans of most historical famous figures and you will see ages pretty much similar to what we live today going right back into ancient greece and beyond.

    The standard party line about increasing life spans, etc. it is mostly just propaganda. Unless you happen to have NHS, your medical industry probably consists mostly of ignorant people, egos propped up by degrees they don't deserve, prescribing according to the marketing whims of big business and sadistic surgeons cutting on you unnecessarily because little Julia needs bracers (also most of the time unnecessary, dentists and orthodontists are well keen to start yanking filing and wiring everything up at an early age before most problems have a chance to correct themseles) and daddy wants a new boat.

    Just do some research. Most medicine only supports or corrects symptoms, causing more medical problems themselves. On the other hand a huge quantity of medical problems go away themselves given adequate time and proper nutrition and exercise routines. Most of the time when you think your doctor made you well, he is just taking credit for the natural healing capability of your body.