One in Three Hospital Patients Will Be Injured by a Medical Mistake

No one wants to believe this frightening fact. One in three? That’s right. Studies now show that one out of every three hospital admissions includes an injury to a patient due to a medical mistake.

If everyone knew how dangerous hospitals are, I wouldn’t have to explain my job at every social event I attend. I’m a medical malpractice lawyer, and I find myself frequently having to tell people that yes, mistakes do happen at hospitals. And now published research shows the scary truth–hospital mistakes are frequent. They’re downright common. The funny thing is, I don’t usually have to explain this to health care professionals because they know the number of mistakes made in hospitals everyday is daunting. But it’s the rest of the public that is in the dark. No one wants to believe that they could be injured when they are admitted to a hospital. Or that their mother could. Or their child. But the facts show that if all three of them are admitted to hospital at one time or another, chances are that one of them will be injured by a hospital mistake. This is frightening information. I hope as more studies are published and discussed in the mainstream media, we will take steps to make hospitals safer.