Researchers at John Hopkins Medicine estimate that more than 250,000 Americans die each year from medical errors.
Each year the Center for Disease Control and Prevention complies a list of the most common leading causes of death in the United States, and this new estimate, places medical errors behind heart disease and cancer, but in front of respiratory disease.
The study was published in the British Medical Journal.
Rankings:
Heart Disease: 614,348
Cancer: 591,699
Medical Error(s): 250,000
Respiratory: 147,101
Accidents (unintentional injuries): 136,053
Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases: 133,103
Alzheimer’s Disease: 93,541
Diabetes: 76,488
Influenza and Pneumonia: 55,227
Nephritis, Nephrotic Syndrome and Nephrosis: 48,146
Intentional Self-Harm (Suicide): 42,773
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-death.htm
