A report published by the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine indicates that hospital administrations have been negligent in defining means to reduce the number of medical mistakes. While most medical mistakes are minor, and do not cause any problems in treatment, the report states that medical errors also account for a significant number of deaths every year.

In the United States, medical errors account for at least 44,000 deaths every year, more than the number of deaths from highway accidents, breast cancer, or AIDS. These statistics are using conservative figures; some estimates report medical mistakes account for as many as 100,000 deaths annually.

These numbers are shocking, but the more startling fact is that little is being done in an effort to prevent these deaths. In most American industries, for example in the airline industry, mistakes that lead to deaths are thoroughly investigated. When the recent plane crash off the Massachusetts shore occurred, industry leaders, government organizations, private investigators, and a host of others flocked to the scene in an effort to best understand the cause of the accident, and, ultimately, how this type of tragedy could be prevented in the future.

In the medical industry, mistakes are rarely recognized, and when noticed, they often go unchecked. By lacking a formal protocol for investigation, the medical community is dismissing a valuable resource in attempting to prevent needless deaths. The report states that because little has been done in an effort to prevent these tragedies, the potential for improvement within hospital systems is abundant. The authors’ goal is for the industry to reduce the mortality rate due to medical errors by 50 percent over a five year period.

The medical motto, the Hippocratic Oath, states “first, do no harm.” No one debates that the nearly every mistake is unintended, but there is a debate as to what type of recourse should take place when such errors occur. The defense of the medical community has been that errors are a part of human nature. Medicine involves a human factor that is, by nature, faulty. Because of this human factor which carries some degree of error, eliminating all errors is impossible. However, there is clearly potential for a dramatic reduction in the number of mistakes.

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