Doctors Kill More People Each Year in Preventable Deaths Than Car Accidents and Guns!

Blog, Cases, Hospitals, Medical Malpractice Mistakes, Wrongful Death

Tort reform creates interesting issues:

Drunk drivers.  Drugged drivers.  Cell phones and distracted driving. Speeding.

All of these factors, while bad, only account for about 37,000 fatalities in the United States each year.

What about guns.  School shootings.  Terrorism.

That is about 33,000 a year—which is a disgusting number by itself.

But preventable medical errors causing deaths?  Almost 7x as many deaths!  Approximately 250,00 confirmed fatalities due to preventable medical errors.  And some researchers believe that number could be closer to 440,000.

440,000 deaths each year could be caused by medical malpractice.

That is a lot, and not far behind cancer which accounts for approximately 591,000 deaths and heart disease which accounts for approximately 641,000 deaths.  But that is more than lung disease, Alzheimers, accidents (car, slip and fall, labor, poisoning, etc.), and diabetes—combined.

But many people do not think that medical malpractice and preventable medical errors account for that many preventable deaths.  Many people see car accidents as the worst cause of death.  And gun violence permeates our TVs.  But recall, in all of Vietnam approximately 58,000 US troops lost their lives.  In the Korea war approximately 33,000 US troops lost their lives.  In World War 1 approximately 116,000 US troops lost their lives.  COMBINED, medical malpractice has more confirmed kills than US enemies during these wars.

Even in World War 2, approximately 418,500 US troops and civilians lost their lives.  That is STILL below the possible estimate that some experts believe that medical malpractice may kill—EACH YEAR in the United States at 440,000.

How can politicians, hospitals, healthcare providers, and insurance companies claim with a straight face that the LAW needs to be reformed with tort reform to lessen the rights of victims harmed, instead of the MEDICINE that needs to be reformed to fix what is being done to civilians?
