Drug mixups kill 40,000+ every year

"In November 1999, the Institutes of Medicine released a report that focused public attention on widespread medical errors. Quite often, these errors are drug related and are fairly mild and resolve. Unfortunately, some adverse reactions are severe. Researchers had found that each year some 44,000 Americans die as a result of such errors. "

"Although not every possible mishap is within your control, there are plenty of ways to help keep yourself safe from harm — both in and out of the hospital..."

For a list of precautions you can take to minimize the chance of this kind of tragedy, see this page:

intellihealth.com

Actually, there are studies estimating the death from improperly administered pharmaceuticals at much higher levels than 44,000 annually. In perspective, this makes the number of deaths in the Iraq war seem puny by comparison. Why is so little attention given to these casualties of a health care system that is making these deadly (and largely preventable) mistakes at an astounding rate?

Also, consider this: If 44,000 Americans are killed outright by drug errors every year, probably an even greater number were permanently injured.