Study Finds Medical Errors Officially Third Leading Cause of Death in U.S.

Fierce Healthcare writes a new study published in The BMJ confirms that medical errors are the third leading cause of death in United States, behind only heart disease and cancer.  The study, led by Martin Makary, M.D., professor of surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, analyzed medical death rate data over an eight-year period and found that more than 250,000 deaths per year occur due to medical error, beating the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) third leading cause of death–respiratory disease–by more than 100,000 cases.

Read more:

• Medical error—the third leading cause of death in the US. BMJ 2016
• Fierce Healthcare: http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/medical-errors-officially-third-leading-cause-death-us-study-finds/2016-05-03