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Abstract: 

According to a new report by Dr. Martin Makary and Michael Daniel of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, published in May in The BMJ (formerly The British Medical Journal), more than 250,000 deaths each year result from human errors and system factors. That would place error behind heart disease and cancer in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s list of leading causes of death, but ahead of respiratory disease, currently the CDC’s third leading cause at 150,000 deaths per year. This article reviews the data published by Drs. Makary and Daniel in the context of correctional health practice, examines some of the practical reasons why more is not being done to address the problem of medical errors, including the fact that no IDC code exists for error, and suggests some benefits to both practitioners and patients of changes in policy that would promote better sharing of information and lead to a reduction in needless error and death.

Keywords: Quality Control (QC); International Classification of Disease (ICD) codes

Affiliations:  1: Civic Research Institute.