Medical errors kill over 100,000 every year

By now, you know that hospitals are some of the most dangerous places on earth. The diseases you can catch there are scary enough, but they're not the only thing to be afraid of. No, there's something much more deadly lurking in the halls.

In 1999, a report by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) claimed that nearly 98,000 people die each year as a result of completely preventable medical errors. Ten years later, things have only gotten worse. The latest report by the Consumers Union claims that medical errors are causing more preventable deaths than ever - over 100,000 each year.

That makes over a million preventable deaths in the last 10 years.

These types of gruesome statistics aren't the least bit surprising. The huge, impersonal health care system is capable of swallowing patients whole and losing them in an increasingly vast shuffle.

The worst part about this whole thing is that these medical errors are usually not the grandiose kinds that make the headlines, such as surgeons removing or transplanting the wrong organs. It's easily preventable things like wrong prescriptions, improper dosages, and poorly administered treatments.

Not long ago, I wrote to you about a study published in the medical journal Quality and Safety in Health Care that detailed deadly medical errors that occurred in doctor's offices - before patients even made it to the hospital! The study showed that 82 percent of the errors were caused by so-called "system malfunctions." One patient died because a message was not delivered on time.

As disturbing as this is, I shudder to think about how much worse they're likely to get when the health care system is hijacked by Obama's bureaucrats.

Try to name just one thing that's run better after it's been taking over by a government bureaucracy.

Besides, the Obama Administration has bungled the takeover of the U.S. auto industry. Why should we trust them to do any better with health care?

The government has already poured a staggering $19 billion into health care information technologies like electronic prescription systems. The theory is that such systems will help to eliminate all medical errors which stem from unintentional drug interactions - even to clear up the confusion that can be caused by illegibly written prescriptions.

In the end, no matter what precaution Uncle Sam puts in place, the best way to keep yourself as safe as possible from these kinds of errors is to take more control of your own health care. If it's at all possible, choose a small family practice as your primary care provider instead of a medical mega-plex. You're much less likely to get lost in the shuffle that way. Don't be afraid to ask questions or get a second opinion - or even a third, for that matter. You can't be too careful these days.

Alternative medicine could be Finn-ished

The government of Finland is about to do something that Big Pharma has been dreaming of (and pushing their willing assistants at the FDA to do) for years: place sever restrictions on the practice of alternative medicine. The goal of the restrictions is, apparently, to "guarantee patient safety."

Sound familiar? How many times have I told you that whenever a government starts banning things in the name of the "public good," it means trouble.

The new law in Finland would only allow alternative therapies for diabetes and cancer patients to be administered by medical doctors. What's more, pregnant women and mental health patients could only undergo alternative therapies provided by medical doctors. The fact that few medical doctors actually practice alternative therapies makes this nothing less than a de facto ban on alternative medicine.

This ban is especially threatening because it fails to define what's considered "alternative." Is an organic diet alternative? How about massage therapy? Or even herbal tea? No one knows for sure. But I have a sneaking suspicion that anything Big Pharma can't turn a buck on would qualify.

Don't shrug this off as something that doesn't apply to you. If we're not careful, it won't be long before a similar model could spread not only through Europe, but across the Atlantic to the U.S. as well.