Personal Injury Law

Medical Mistakes Continue to Affect Patients Across the Country

By Steven M. Levin and John J. Perconti

With healthcare reform becoming the major legislative issue of the last year, it is surprising that more discussion has taken place regarding the prevention of medical errors that affect countless innocent patients each year.

The Times Union noticed the surprisingly inadequate steps taken to tackle the problem. The Institute for Healthcare Improvement found that nearly 200,000 people die each year from hospital mistakes that could be prevented and infections acquired while at hospitals. That staggering total suggests that hundreds of deaths every day could be prevented if only steps were taken to safeguard against these errors.

An initial step in tackling the crisis of medical errors involves collecting accurate data on the scope of the problem. However, Congress has yet again failed to require reporting of medical errors. Because of that, the problem remains hidden in the background of healthcare debates.

Many patients? right advocates are encouraged that the new chief of Medicare and Medicaid services may try to once again put patient safety in the public consciousness. Dr. Donald Berwick had previous spent thirty years studying patient safety and working on ways to improve the quality of care given across the country.

His supporters claim that he ?is passionate about safety and quality, and is a brilliant leader. He knows how to articulate that passion and that purpose behind health care like no one I?ve ever heard.?

Our Chicago medical malpractice lawyers at Levin & Perconti are well aware of the magnitude of the problem of medical mistakes. In our decades of collective experience our attorneys have been involved with a multitude of cases where medical professionals provided inadequate care causing the deaths of their patients. We will continue to fight for the rights of the patients and their families who have had their lives destroyed by the very people whom they thought would provide them with the expert care they deserved.

Please Click Here to read more about the inadequate reporting of errors and the possible legislative actions to rectify it.

Full post as published by Illinois Medical Malpractice Blog on September 19, 2010 (boomark / email).