Leading cause now, but even in 1999 from Dr Mercola:
"This is a followup of the IOM report, December of last year . . .Now it is published in JAMA, the most widely circulated medical periodical in the world.
Dr Barbara Starfield, Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health, author, describes how the US health care system may contribute to poor health.
DEATHS PER YEAR:
12,000 - unnecessary surgery
7,000 - medication errors in hospitals
20,000 - other errors in hospitals
80,000 - infections in hospitals
106,000 - non-error, negative effects of drugs
Total: 225,000 deaths per year from iatrogenic causes . . .
Dr Starfield's warnings for these numbers:
Most data are derived from studies in hospitalized patients.
Second, estimates are for deaths only; don't include disability or discomfort.
Third, .. .If higher estimates are used, deaths due to iatrogenic causes would range:
230,000 to 284,000. At any rate. . .
the third leading cause of death in the US"