According to researchers from Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, MD, diagnostic mistakes are the most frequent, and most serious, medical error that occurs, and the one which leads to the most medical malpractice lawsuits.
There aren’t exact values as to how many patients are affected, but it‘s estimated that between 40,000 and 80,000 deaths happen in United States hospitals each year. Because of these high values, the Johns Hopkins researchers studied over 11,000 cases from a U.S. medical malpractice claims database to understand which conditions doctors are most likely to misdiagnose.
Patients in New York and throughout the country could be exposed to a wide range of medication errors. These mistakes could result in a worsened condition or other negative consequences. However, not all types of errors are accounted for unless there is an adverse event. For instance, many medical offices and hospitals use electronic health records. One problem that can occur is ordering medication for the wrong person.
Read more: Overlooked factors that could lead to a medical error
The National Pharmacy Association has released its quarterly report on patient safety errors among community pharmacists. The three-month period between April and June 2018 has seen a startling 64 percent increase in the number of such errors compared to the previous quarter. Patients in New York will want to know what some of the factors are.
Read more: NPA's quarterly report shows increase in pharmacist errors
A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association indicates that the reliability and usefulness of electronic health records may vary widely across different systems. EHR error rates also varied among the different tasks physicians were asked to perform, and were as high as 50 percent for certain tasks. That could be important information for New York patients.
Read more: Errors with electronic health records vary across systems
In New York hospitals, drug shortages can be a major obstacle. When there are shortages of certain drugs, medication errors may be more likely to occur, especially if they have an impact on the methods for compounding sterile products. Establishing preparedness processes and best practices can help ensure that hospitals are prepared for shortages and able to mitigate any errors these shortages could potentially cause.
MANHATTAN LAW OFFICE
122 East 42nd Street Suite 3800
New York, NY 10168
Tel: 212-LAWYERS
Tel: 212-697-9280
QUEENS LAW OFFICE
8900 Sutphin Blvd Suite 501
Queens, NY 11435
Tel: (718) 399-3100
*By Appointment Only