Medical Dangers : Faux Pas in Medicine.

January 2, 2006

The Telegraph, Knowhow, Jan 02. Faux pas in medicine By Prasun Chadhuri http://www.telegraphindia.com/1060102/asp/knowhow/story_5662922.asp RISKY BUSINESS: Medical errors are not unexpected To err is human, so goes the old adage, but when an error leads to a death, the ancient wisdom is difficult to digest. Medical

mistakes are nearly impossible to forgive or forget. Although everyone involved in the tragedy feels it, often the doctor has to bear the brunt. Last month when we highlighted in a news brief that hospitals kill more than plane crashes (December 5), a reader criticised us in a letter saying that we had been trying to defame doctors (Useless statistics, December 12). On the following week another reader retorted that medical mistakes indeed are pushing us towards the brink (Ignorance is bliss). According to a shocking statistics culled by this reader, medical mistakes kill nearly a hundred thousand people in the US alone every year. The lively exchange between the two readers forced me to ponder over medical errors. How common are they? What can be done about them? A quick look at the archives of top medical journals such as the BMJ, Lancet or New

England Journal of Medicine revealed that errors in medical practices are extremely common. In fact, medicine is not a foolproof science and healthcare is one of the riskiest businesses. Yet there is an assumption that doctors generally don’t make mistakes, and those who do have failed to live up to some imagined medical paragons. This misconception immerses us deeply in a blame culture, and it becomes extremely hard to persuade doctors to report the errors. Many of these errors do not cause any harm, but in many ways these are as important as those that do. They indicate a breakdown in the system or a wrong decision. To minimise errors doctors need to learn from a huge glossary of mistakes. Once errors are recognised their causes must be analysed so that preventive measures can be taken. Most of the mistakes in hospitals are caused by a systems failure which leads to harmful

outcomes relating to surgery, drugs, and diagnoses. Drug errors are the biggest problem because it’s very difficult to keep in mind all the possible drug interactions and correct dosages. In fact, it’s nearly impossible to keep up with the avalanche of new knowledge in modern medicine. A well-informed doctor has to retain information on some 12,000 known diseases in his or her head. To minimise errors and deal with the latest information medicine needs a strong dose of technology. Telemedicine is one way to keep healthcare personnels informed of the latest developments. Also, every hospital should procure a software that can match a patient’s symptoms and suggest a line of treatment. It’s time healthcare providers realise that claiming infallibility and shying away from responsibility is of no use. PRASUN

CHAUDHURI “New opinions often appear first as jokes and fancies, then as blasphemies and treason, then as questions open to discussion, and finally as established truths.” – George Bernard Shaw.

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