Yup. Hospitals LOVE giving people infections. Not only are they big money makers, but they are one of the primary dangers to employees! Win. Win.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Hope it's not a tray on a hospital table. Yikes.


In 1999, Americans learned that 98,000 people were dying every year from preventable errors in hospitals. That came from a widely touted analysis by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) called To Err Is Human. This was the “Silent Spring” of the health care world, grabbing headlines for revealing a serious and deadly problem that required policy and action.

As it turns out, those were the good old days.

According to a new study just out from the prestigious Journal of Patient Safety, four times as many people die from preventable medical errors than we thought, as many as 440,000 a year.

Back in the old days, the IOM experts had very little concrete information to use in estimating the extent of killer errors in hospitals. But with innovations in research techniques led by Dr. David Classen, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and others, we now have more tools to tell us where the bodies are buried.

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Any word on how many lives are saved?

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

Perhaps you can look that up as soon as Panther gives you permission.

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Oooh Kay. I guess you're a salty bastard too. That's fine.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

If you are allowed, post your findings in a selfie while wearing your t-shirt.

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SALTY. Don't be jealous. It's a terrible color for your irish hues of ruddy red and confusion.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

Once again, infections and reactions to properly prescribed medicine are not "errors". They are side effects and/or dangers of medical treatment. You might as well just start citing "unsuccessful surgery" or "unsuccessful cancer treatment" as a medical error then. You'd get your number into the millions but it would be a completely worthless statistic because medicine doesn't require a 100% success rate. It just needs a far higher success rate than failure rate.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I would be a little apprehensive about a procedure or medication if someone I was close to died because of it.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

I think that is natural, whether or not you know someone who was negatively affected.

All medical procedures and treatments have some degree of risk.

I keep on going back to the seat belt analogy because it is pretty similar. Seatbelts will by a considerable margin, increase the odds of you living a longer life. However, seatbelts, in rare circumstances, can actually be more damaging in an accident. The same is true for air bags, but air bags are actually less safe.

So, your choice is to either trust that air bags and seatbelts give you a better chance of survival in an accident, or to disable both of them, and then take your chances that you will avoid anything that could have been prevented or stopped.

It truly is just a percentages game. Yes, you risk infection after surgery. You risk far more if you never get a surgery in your life. There is a reason why life expectancy has shot up about 20 years since 1930. Modern medicine has a lot to do with that.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

It's not worthless to the 440K families who lost a loved one.

And that amount of deaths isn't even near anyone's "common sense" realm.

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No, it still is.
No, it is, especially since most of those aren't even errors at all. They are side effects.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

That makes it ok then.

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If the positives far outweigh the negatives, then yes it does.

We live our whole lives with the very same calculations being done. Every time I eat a piece of fruit, it may kill me. I have to weigh the negative side effects of eating fruit to the positive things provided by eating fruit.

By all means, refuse to ever have a surgery if you are afraid of infections. I don't know if it improves your odds of survival though.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Don't go to a Chiro though.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20642715

440K versus 26.

I take those odds regularly.

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But you claim you still go to doctors.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Once a year at least to get a necessary blood test.

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Those aren't really the odds considering how many more people see real doctors.

KD

You may want to double check your math. And have you ever been to a chiropractor?

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Yeah, before I had a microscopic discectomy on my L5 when I was 18. Thankfully I didn't die after it, but never going to risk seeing one again now that I know the risks.

I'm glad that you are still with us as well.

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It was cool, the Blackhawks team doctor did the surgery at Loyola. Although maybe there was extra risk because that was just after they were swept in the finals.

I'm glad it worked out for you.

I had to constant disc issues 20 years ago. Mostly L4 and L5. I decided against surgery and I am happy with my decision as well.

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Not speaking to KDDIDIT but some people that have never experienced any of these things will always believe that you should have done what they believe they will do in a particular situation. Life just seems to work a little differently. It's not like a video game or a computer model.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

Allowing emotions and personal experiences to factor into medical decisions seems like a well-thought out plan

I don't think many people care if it only affects the person who is making the decision. If someone wants to forgo back surgery and do other things then go ahead. I hope it works out great. So will your doctor.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I know a guy who ate terribly, smoked, and drank his whole life. He ended up having a heart attack and died in the hospital.

The obvious conclusion: avoid hospitals.

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He should have went to the chiropractor.

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I know that same guy. He walks everyday and he's 87. He may get on the bus but it's rare that he will get in a car.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!