Every year throughout the country, in every state, people receive poor medical treatment that often results in a medical malpractice lawsuit. According to the Journal of Patient Safety, preventable medical errors kill approximately 400,000 United States citizens every year. Furthermore, at least 10 times the number of people are seriously injured every year as a result of these mistakes.
In the state of Maryland, it is becoming increasingly more difficult to know how big of a problem this has become. Even though hospitals are supposed to make state regulators aware of serious medical errors, this is not always the way things work out. According to regulators and safety experts, the confidential system that is in place prohibits all of the information making its way to the appropriate party. Disclosure is often times clouded over fear of financial or legal consequences.
A Johns Hopkins Hospital safety expert said, “If you added up all the adverse events in hospitals, they would probably be about the third leading cause of death. The public should be screaming that we deserve better.”
It is important for this information to be shared accurately, as it helps patients make decisions on where to receive care. At this time, only seven states have a law in place that requires hospitals to publicly report errors.
Every year, errors in hospitals kill hundreds of thousands of people and injure many more. As a patient, you deserve the best care at all times, regardless of your condition. In the event that this does not happen, you must know your rights within the legal system.
