Professional medical treatment is estimated to be the third leading cause of death in the US, behind heart disease and cancer. Johns Hopkins did a study on it.

Professional medical treatment is estimated to be the third leading cause of death in the US, behind heart disease and cancer. Johns Hopkins did a study on it. 250,000 people a year. Nearly 10% of all deaths. A 0.7% chance of dying (from a mistake) per hospital visit. You know why it goes under the radar? Because there is no billing code for f-ups. I realize of course this doesn't mean self-medication is safer; legitimate medical treatment might cause more deaths just because there is more of it. [https://hub.jhu.edu/2016/05/03/medical-errors-third-leading-cause-of-death/ https://hub.jhu.edu/2016/05/03/medical-errors-third-leading-...] "The researchers caution that most medical errors aren't due to inherently bad doctors, and that reporting these errors shouldn't be addressed by punishment or legal action. Rather, they say, most errors represent systemic problems, including poorly coordinated care, fragmented insurance networks, the absence or underuse of safety nets, and other protocols, in addition to unwarranted variation in physician practice patterns that lack accountability."