Patient, protect thyself?
Studies show that you can, as a patient, spot and possibly prevent a medical error from happening to you.
American medicine used to keep mum on the subject of medical mistakes and the harm they do. Harvard researchers helped break that silence with a 1990 study of adverse events in hospitals throughout New York State. Then the Institute of Medicine put its spotlight on the issue with a 1999 report, To Err Is Human. Scores of studies have been done since, and most have involved identifying errors by reviewing medical records.
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