Date: Mon, 26 Dec 1994 14:51:54 -0800 (PST) From: "Edgar A. Suter" To: firearms-alert@shell.portal.com While proofing "Violence in America - Effective Solutions" for publication in the Journal of the Medical Association of Georgia, I came upon a new estimate of the number of Americans killed annually by doctors' errors. The estimate was published in the December 21, 1994 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association so is particularly quotable. An excerpt from "Violence in America..." contains the new estimate: The 1990 Harvard Medical Practice Study quantified non-psychiatric inpatient deaths from physician negligence (excluding outpatient, extended care, and inpatient psychiatric deaths) in New York State.[1] "If these rates are typical of the United States, then 180,000 people die each year partly as a result of iatrogenic injury, the equivalent of three jumbo-jet crashes every two days."[2] - almost five times the number of Americans killed with guns. [1] Harvard Medical Practice Study. "Harvard Medical Practice Study." Report to the State of New York. Cambridge MA: Harvard Medical School. 1990. [2] Leape LL. "Error in Medicine." JAMA. 1994; 272(23): 1851-57. ************************************************************************* * Edgar A. Suter, MD suter@crl.com * * Chair, DIRPP Doctors for Integrity in Research & Public Policy * *************************************************************************