Medical System Risks

Taken from a Journal of the American Medical Association (2000) article

• 5% 12,000 deaths per year due to unnecessary surgery

• 3% 7000 deaths per year due to medication errors in hospitals

• 9% 20,000 deaths per year due to other errors in hospitals

• 36% 80,000 deaths per year due to infections in hospitals

• 47% 106,000 deaths per year due to negative effects of drugs

Total 225,000 deaths per year

Thus, America's healthcare-system-induced deaths are the third leading cause of the death in the U.S., after heart disease and cancer.

The percentages are mine and show the contribution of each to the total. What stands out is the number due to drugs. As another article pointed out, that is about 2,000 deaths/week, about 20 fatal airline crashes per week. Now consider that these figures are deaths.and don't include injuries.

So my good pacemaker friends...the next time the doc wants to pile on another med and tells you that you are increasing your risk of death if you don't take it consider those 2,000 people who did.

frank

10 Comments

Drugs

by Blue - 2010-10-29 06:10:52



I always question whether I actually need so much medication and fought "tooth and nail" for my BP meds to be decreased taking away one tablet. I was sick of my day being wiped out about half an hour after medication.

One wonders, at times, whose interest is at heart.

Have a great day, I really enjoy your postings.
cheers from Oz Billie

BP Meds

by ElectricFrank - 2010-10-29 07:10:56

Hi,
So far the one advantage we have here in the states is that we have the ultimate say. They can be pretty intimidating though.

My BP bounces all over the place. Without meds I can see 200/105 (not often) and then by the end of the day down to 90/45. If I take meds for the highs it is a disaster with the lows. It really doesn't bother me and I told the doc I wasn't going to treat his anxiety!

My final approach was to bring a list of my BP's with me to the office for him, and then refuse to have it taken in the office. If I average mine out it looks pretty good for an 80yr old.

I've done the same thing with chloresterol. I refuse to take statins for it, and have told him to leave it off my blood test. It is always the same and just upsets him.

The final nail in the box was when he tried the fear approach by asking how I would feel if I had a heart attack. My answer was "likely nothing for long".

cheers,

frank

Good & Bad

by J.B. - 2010-10-29 08:10:43

Frank,

Looks like you forgot to put the last line on your message.

TRICK OR TREAT!!

The medial profession is just like all professions some of the people are good and some are bad. The trick is to be able to identify the bad. Do you have any tips on how to do that?

I know you have helped many people here with your exceptional knowledge of pacemakers and your willingness to help the members here by passing on some of that knowledge in words most of us can understand.

I've also known for a long time you are anti-medicine and there is little doubt that you have not hurt yourself since you have reach the age of 80. But what do you think those fatality rates would be if everyone did as you do about taking medicines. I doubt that there would be a lower number of the deaths.

Believe it or not medicines have saved the life of many people just as they have cost the lives a lot of people, but I have to go with the belief that more are helped than harmed by medicines. Most of those people that are killed by medicines could have prevented their deaths if they had paid attention to how they felt before starting a medication and/or read the information sheet that comes with all medicines we get in the U.S.

Come to think of it getting sick and needing medical care simply puts a person at risk. Just like the person that has to live in a big crowed and polluted city so they can earn a living. We all know that living in an environment like the one you live in would be more healthy, but it just ain't possible for everyone. So we see the doctors we think are good, take the medicine prescribed, or have the surgery he or she says is necessary and take our chances. Not much else we can do, except hope we picked a good doctor or hospital for our health care.

JB

Not anti medicine

by ElectricFrank - 2010-10-29 09:10:04

Thanks for the comments JB. I really do appreciate them.

First off, I'm not anti-medicine. When appropriate I have had back surgery and a pacemaker. There have been times when I tried a course of a drug to check out the benefits and the down side.

What I demand is that medicine actually practice what they claim. They claim to be scientific yet their methods would be a joke in most other fields. For instance the early use of the double blind method was an honest attempt to get around the "wishful thinking" problem. It was done in university settings and the researchers were free to report their results. However, it has degenerated into having commercial research corporations who have a monetary interest in the outcome of their commissioned studies. If a study of a drug doesn't produce the results desired only the drug company has access to it. Then the research protocol is modified and re-run until things come out in their favor. The blind has disappeared from the double blind.

I won't go on at great length in this post. There is so much more. Let's see where it goes.

best,

frank

J.B.

by cfritza - 2010-10-29 09:10:37

Well said J.B.

More

by ElectricFrank - 2010-10-29 11:10:14

Here's a few examples of "anti-medicine" from my life.

Following my wife's stroke in 1999 she was likely saved from death by surgery to remove the blood and pressure from her brain. After looking at the CT-Scan carefully with the ER doc I agreed to the surgery, but not as a desperate measure. Mary told me before she lapsed into a coma to use my judgement, and that she didn't want to survive as a vegetable. After the surgery I monitored her treatment in ICU almost continuously. During that period I prevented her from receiving BP meds that could have affected blood flow to her brain, and were not required if she was only kept warm. I detected and stopped an anaphylactic shock reaction from an infusion of platelets. the nursing staff tried to put it off as her "laying on the monitoring wires". If I hadn't turned off the IV she would likely have died. When the hospital threatened to exclude me from ICU for tampering with the equipment I responded by letting them know I was going to subpoena the monitoring records. That ended that.

The nursing staff kept adjusting the oxygen to the cannula in her nose when her nasal passages were total clogged.

Next she moved to a rehab hospital where her "optimized program was for 30 days", coincidentally the time period our insurance would cover. A bit of checking around showed the optimum program always matched the insurance coverage.

Now for me. After receiving the pacemaker implant I was told they were going to keep me in the hospital for another day or two so they could run a chemical stress test followed by likely Cardiac Catheterization. This was all based upon projecting my heart condition from my lipid profile. It also happen to be at the end of the New Years week with a lot of empty beds. I refused both, checked out, and started my exercise at home. After forcing the issue and having my upper limit set to 150 and rate response turned off I was climbing steep hills in the desert. 5 yrs later there is no indication that I have any sort of coronary blockage.

With the prevalence of hospital infections and errors the extra time in the hospital for either my wife or I would have subjected us to significant and unnecessary risk.

and there is more,

frank

Hospital Experience

by Heidiglassmeyer - 2010-10-30 01:10:04

When my daughter was born she delevoped a high fever when she was 4 days old. I took her to the pediatrician and we were send immediately to the hospital.

I had group B strep and due to a very fast labor and delivery I was not able to take my antiobotic prior to delivery (almost delivered her in the lobby of the hospita, that's another story).

Our pediatrician tried 2 failed spinal taps in the hospital. She came in to discuss a third attempt with me and we decided that trying a third would be just as risky as going ahead and treating her with antibiotics for unconfirmed menangitis. We decided to treat with antibiotics. They started her on IV AB. The second night the nurse came in and scanned our wristbands and administered her AB. Then the nurse scanned our bands two more times and started to leave. I stopped her and asked why she scanned our bands two more times. Her response was she did not want to wake us up for the two evening doses of AB! I thank goodness had enough sense to tell her absolutely not! I told her to delete those scans and wake us up! I can only image my daughter either receiving another patients meds or her overdosing my daughter with AB by giving them to her at the wrong time, etc. I called the charge nurse and later filed a complaint regarding the nurse's actions.

Now after so many medical experiences of my own, I learned I put WAY too much trust in the medical profession and watch their every move and if I am unable to, I ensure my husband is there to ask questions, watch what is going on, and question everything.

I think there are very competent providers out there but we still have a responsibility as patients to participate in our care and be part of the treatment plan.

Amiodarone

by Susan G - 2010-10-30 01:10:41

My father died as a result of the drug Amiodarone.
He had been diagnosed with a-fib in June and after 62 days in ICU passed away from Amiodarone induced pulmonary fibrosis in the following January.
He wasn't aware of the risks he was taking when he took this drug. When he began to have symptoms, unbelievably the doctors didn't recognize this as Amiodarone Toxicity. I thought I was the only one to have this experience until recently I found a forum Topix. There I found scores of people who have lived the same nightmare.
People need to be made aware of the possible side effects of the drugs that they take. I think this needs to be in a format more readable than the package inserts we have today.
It strikes me as curious that we have to sign and initial for the most mundane things in life yet a doctor can prescribe a drug that risks the patients life (off-label at that!) and there is no documentation that the patient was ever made aware of the potential outcomes.

How about ...

by Zia - 2010-10-31 01:10:38

All these stories seem to add up to one thing - you have to be educated and assertive to deal with the medical profession. BUT when they get you in the hospital, you're usually not aware or strong enough to deal with them. Which is why I think every patient needs an advocate who is both knowledgeable and assertive to speak for you and not let some of this stuff happen. I'm not sure how this can be arranged, maybe a family member or friend could be asked to do this and given a "medical power of attorney" to make decisions when you are "out of it".

Any suggestions, all you smart folks?

Zia

I agree

by ElectricFrank - 2010-10-31 03:10:59

Zia,
You are right on with your suggestion. The problem is in finding someone who is trustable, knowledgeable, and emotionally able to handle the job. That's a big order. I have a medical power of attorney designating my son since my wife died. I have separately given him a letter outlining the best way I can what I want, but ultimately it will have to be up to him to make decisions. I have let him know that I want him to do the best he can and not feel guilty about the consequences.

After my wife's stroke in 1999 I learned a lot about handling the doctors and hospital. I was making potentially life and death decisions and learned to take time to absorb what the docs were saying and ask questions. I didn't fight with them, but was firm.

I have some more ideas that I will try to post soon. I'll start a new post for them as comments get lost after a few days.

thanks to all for the comments,

frank


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