A recent study conducted by Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and published in the health journal, BMJ, found that medical errors in hospitals and healthcare facilities in the U.S. account for 250,000 deaths a year. That’s more than other notorious causes like respiratory disease and stroke. Researchers say medical errors are not counted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) because of an oversight in the system hospitals use to record causes of death.
Medical errors include things like misdiagnosis, surgical mishaps and accidental prescription overdoses.
According to the study’s co-author, Dr. Michael Daniel, miscommunication between doctors and patients can lead to many fatal medical errors.
Dr. Daniel joined Tom in the studio to discuss the study’s findings and what can be done to address the issue.
This story originally aired on May 23, 2016.
