Iatrogenic
Iatrogenic -- a word you should know...
According to Webster's, it means: Induced in a patient by a
physician's activity, manner, or therapy. In other words:
Caused by a doctor.
Now doctors can cause all kinds of things. Cures. Wellness.
Hope. But what about death? Is that something we're used to
thinking is caused by our doctors? Well, if you've been
reading the Daily Dose -- or my Real Health newsletter --
for any length of time at all, you'll probably answer a
resounding YES to that last question. But if you're new, I
want to bring you up to speed on a truly frightening
statistic -- one that'll shake you to your soon-to-be-ex-
mainstream core:
Doctor errors, of one type or another, are the 3rd largest
cause of death in the U.S., killing nearly a quarter of a
million of us every year...
You read that right: Behind heart disease and cancer, the
actions of doctors kill more Americans than any other cause,
according to a milestone report that originally appeared in
the Journal of the American Medical Association in July 2000
(July 26; vol. 284, no. 4, pp. 483-5). I know, that's almost
2 years ago. Why mention it now?
Because doctor's errors became news again in the wake of the
nationally publicized death of Jesica Santillan, the Mexican
immigrant whose parents allegedly smuggled her into this
country in hopes of saving her life with a heart/lung
transplant -- only to have her be given organs from a donor
of the WRONG BLOOD TYPE. As you know, she subsequently
underwent a second operation, suffered severe brain damage,
and died on February 22.
Now, all immigration and legal issues aside, the fact
remains that Jesica died because of doctor error --
something we don't even want to think about nowadays. But it
happens in so many ways every day that it's nearly
impossible to avoid being touched by it. In fact, on March
12, the New York Times revealed another transplant gone
wrong, back in August 2002. In this case, doctors gave a
year-old baby part of her father's liver -- when it was her
mother whose blood type matched. The baby died.
The JAMA report reveals not only the horrifying frequency of
the problem, but also shows the extent to which the U.S.
health care system contributes to it. I could run down the
truly stunning list of statistics about the medication
errors, unnecessary surgeries, hospital-borne infections,
and on and on and on. But you wouldn't even believe me if I
did. It's better you should look up the whole article
yourself to the learn the truth, but make sure you're not
anywhere near a doctor when you do...