Surgical Errors Cost U.S. Billions

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U.S. Surgical Errors Proven to be Costly

2008-07-30

Recent reports claim that preventable medical errors are costing the U.S. government an estimated $1.5 billion per year.

Surgical errors are also to blame for an estimated 10 percent of deaths that occur yearly in hospitals throughout the country.

Increase in Hospital Errors

The type of errors that have been most reported in U.S. hospitals include bedsores, infections and blood clots.

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality recently analyzed the records of more than 161,000 patients between the ages of 18 and 64 who had undergone surgery between 2001 and 2002.

According to the records, one of every 10 patients who died within 90 days of their surgery, died from preventable errors that happened during the operation.

Infections and Other Complications Follow Surgery

One-third of the deaths reported occurring after surgery, are said to have happened after the patient was discharged from the hospital.

Researchers found that nursing related errors, such as pressure ulcers and hip fractures, added up to an average bill of $12, 196.

(Source: Reuters)

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