Research Suggests More Than 250K Americans Die Yearly From Medical Errors

Medical errors, including wrong diagnoses, botched surgeries and medication mistakes, are the third leading cause of death in the United States, a new study suggests. Scientists from Johns Hopkins found that more than 250,000 Americans die due to medical mishaps every year, greater than the toll from any major medical condition except heart disease or cancer. The findings, published in The BMJ, come from an analysis of death rate records spanning eight years. Study author Dr. Martin Makary, surgical director of the Johns Hopkins Multidisciplinary Pancreas Clinic and a professor of surgery at Johns Hopkins Medicine, said rates for deaths related to "medical care gone awry" aren’t tracked in a standardized way.