We want to know whether you’ve been the victim of medical negligence. Have you ever been misdiagnosed, or worse had a health problem that went unnoticed by medical professionals for years? How about had an error with a prescription or medical examining outcome? Or, have you ever gone to the hospital to get one health issue resolved, and end up contracting a hospital infection?

Here are five ways public across the country develop a medical problem, or worsen an existing one, as the aftermath of medical negligence:

1. Mistaken Prescription: A July 2006 study found that 1.5 million Americans become sick, injured or die each year due to errors in prescribing, dispensing and taking medications.

2. Hospital Infection: In American hospitals alone, healthcare-associated infections detail for an estimated 1.7 million infections and 99,000 associated deaths each year. Of these infections:

• 32 percent of all healthcare-associated infection are urinary tract infections
• 22 percent are surgical site infections
• 15 percent are pneumonia (lung infections)
• 14 percent are bloodstream infections

According to the Center’s for Disease Control’s Estimate of Healthcare-Associated Infections.

3. Medical checking Error: A study published in the June 2008 issue of Quality & Safety in Health Care, found that errors in medical checking resulted in delays in care for patients, and that 13

percent of medical analyzing errors resulted in pain, suffering or a definite adverse clinical consequence and 18 percent resulted in harm. Minority patients were more likely to experience adverse consequences.

4. Doctors’ Failure to Wash Hands: A 2004 study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that doctors washed their hands about 57 percent of the times that they should have. Hand washing is known to reduce the number of infections that get spread.

5. Mixing Prescriptions, Drugs and Alcohol: Mixing prescription drugs with street drugs and/or alcohol is associated with a spike in fatal medical errors, according to a July 2008 study. Making certain to discuss all medication, drug and alcohol use with your doctor is an fundamental way to prevent that kind of error.

Share your medical horror story in a comment below.

Original post by Mary Kearl

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