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Small fraction of deaths in hospitals found to be preventable

Based on a systematic review that yielded eight studies of deaths of hospitalized patients, researchers from Yale University School of Medicine and VA Connecticut Healthcare System found that only 3.1% were judged to have been preventable.

Two of the studies offered data on preventable deaths for patients with at least 3 months of life expectancy and reported that between 0.5% and 1.0% of those deaths were preventable. Considering the number of annual deaths of hospitalized patients in the USA, the researchers estimated that approximately 22,165 preventable hospital deaths annually and up to 7,150 preventable deaths among patients with greater than 3 months life expectancy.

These numbers are much smaller than previous, much criticized, estimates of deaths due to medical error reported by the Institute of Medicine and in other studies.
[Rodwin BA and others. Rate of preventable mortality in hospitalized patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Gen Intern Med. Jan 21, 2020]

According to the Yale study, most of the hospital errors involved poor monitoring or management of medical conditions; diagnostic errors; and errors related to surgery and procedures.
[Hathaway B. Estimates of preventable hospital deaths are too high, new study shows. Yale-news. Jan 28, 2020]

Dr. David Gorski has provided an analysis of the Yale study, previous high estimates of deaths due to medical error, and how promoters of "alternative medicine" have exploited previous estimates to undermine the public confidence in medicine.

[Gorski D. Are medical errors really the third most common cause of death in the U.S.? (2020 edition). Science-Based Medicine. Feb 3, 2020]

(from the Consumer Health Digest, by Stephen Barrett, M.D.)