Thursday, May 26, 20052
"Even the best computer systems can't stop hospitals from being killing machines."
The tabloid-like melodramatic statements continue:
The tabloid-like melodramatic statements continue:
Harmful medication-related mishaps cropped up in a quarter of all patients at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Salt Lake City, one of the most high-tech hospitals in the country, according to a study published in Archives of Internal Medicine.Yes, medical mistakes are a problem. However, equating every medical mistake to a plane crash is going somewhat overboard.
"If you were on an airplane and a quarter of the time it crashed, that would be a problem," said study co-author Dr. Jonathan Nebeker, a physician at the VA Medical Center.
Comments
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Anonymous
I agree with what you mean in the last sentence, but i think you could say it better.
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Anonymous
Actually, if one wanted to compare the medication errors to airplane errors, you have to include the flight delay as an "airplane error", as that's how they calculated medical error as well.
Post a CommentIt's not going "somewhat overboard", Kevin. It's outright false.
The metaphor of a plane crashing is meant to convey Death. Death from unnatural causes, usually the result of human or engineering error.
Medical mistakes also do this. But NOT at all in the degree the study author suggests.
She says:
If you were on an airplane and a quarter of the time it crashed, that would be a problem," said study co-author Dr. Jonathan Nebeker
She's basing this on:
Harmful medication-related mishaps cropped up in a quarter of all patients at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Salt Lake City
This is absolutely a FALSE, misleading comparison. ***Mishaps*** occured 25% of the time. NOT FATALITIES.
Only 9% of the errors were serious, and less than 1% were fatal. Which is a far cry from 25%.
The worse thing about that very stupid article though was the way that very stupid reporter wrote it:
"Computers No Cure for Dumb Docs".
Yeah. It's:
1. docs who are always responsible medication error
And
2. the docs who do make a medication error (ie. at some point in their lives, 99% of all docs) make it because they are dumb.
10:47 AM
Patient dies of advanced cancer. Someone gave two Tylenol's instead of one. That's a medication error. Patient died, therefore the error caused the death. That's how these "error" studies are done.
And despite the "Computers No Cure for Dumb Docs" headline written by the idiot reporter, the thrust of the article really speaks to problems with the computer software. The doc didn't break into the drug cabinet and force the wrong drug on the patient. The software was supposed to spot the contraindications, duplications, allergies, and all that, to prevent the error.
To the extent that error STILL occured, it's a shortcoming of the COMPUTER system.
Of course, that dumb doctor is still responsible.
6:36 PM