4 ms·

Not only link-baity, but also blaming the doctor. Large percentage of the large percentage of people who won't read the article will move away with a inconsciou

Not only link-baity, but also blaming the doctor. Large percentage of the large percentage of people who won't read the article will move away with a inconsciouss (at least) fear of medical interventions.

bitJericho 11y ago
Well yeah all medical interventions have can have side effects; they should be considered.
- Tyr42 11y ago
  But they should be considered proportionally to their probability times severity, and in this case, the probability is small enough to be a rounding error, so you really should worry about other things first, like getting killed when driving to the dentist's.
  - logicchains 11y ago
    According to [1], medical errors are actually the third leading cause of death in the United States, so it's hardly a small probability. 1. http://www.forbes.com/sites/leahbinder/2013/09/23/stunning-news-on-preventable-deaths-in-hospitals/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/leahbinder/2013/09/23/stunning-n...
    - TeMPOraL 11y ago
      You should count only those medical errors which are relevant to your visit. A dentist probably won't accidentally damage your heart with a scalpel.
- ams6110 11y ago
  Anesthesia in particular. I've had some family members who were never quite the same after general anesthesia. Not as mentally sharp, more forgetful, etc.
toolz 11y ago
mistakes in medicine are one of the leading causes of death in america. It's not an unwarranted fear.
- schrodinger 11y ago
  Huh? Are mistakes in medicine responsible for cardiovascular disease, infectious diseases, or cancer? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leading_causes_of_death https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leading_causes_of_death
  - logicchains 11y ago
    http://www.forbes.com/sites/leahbinder/2013/09/23/stunning-news-on-preventable-deaths-in-hospitals/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/leahbinder/2013/09/23/stunning-n... "With these latest revelations, medical errors now claim the spot as the third leading cause of death in the United States, dwarfing auto accidents, diabetes and everything else besides Cancer and heart disease." Based on the findings of http://journals.lww.com/journalpatientsafety/Fulltext/2013/09000/A_New,_Evidence_based_Estimate_of_Patient_Harms.2.aspx http://journals.lww.com/journalpatientsafety/Fulltext/2013/0...
    - harryjo 11y ago
      That is a highly politicized/editorialized paper, though, with a clear opinion that really belong separate from a scientific paper. It counts every death that could have been prevented by perfect care, not only harm caused by treatment in otherwise safe individuals. For example, if someone with heart disease visits hospital and the hospital does not administer best known treatment protocol and the patient dies, that's a "medical error". But at root it is a heart-disease death. Same for cancer. Some of the highlighted examples from the abstracts are extreme: >>> One example of a lethal error of communication between provider and patient occurred when cardiologists failed to warn their 19-year-old patient not to run. The patient had experienced syncope [fainting] while running, and 5 days of inpatient, diagnostic testing were inconclusive; however, his cardiologists knew he was not ready to return to running but failed to warn him against this risk. Having not been warned against running, he resumed running and died 3 weeks later while running. <<< The proper analysis is "what are your odds of survival when you choose to seek vs not seek care?"

bitJericho 11y ago

Well yeah all medical interventions have can have side effects; they should be considered.

Tyr42 11y ago
But they should be considered proportionally to their probability times severity, and in this case, the probability is small enough to be a rounding error, so you really should worry about other things first, like getting killed when driving to the dentist's.
- logicchains 11y ago
  According to [1], medical errors are actually the third leading cause of death in the United States, so it's hardly a small probability. 1. http://www.forbes.com/sites/leahbinder/2013/09/23/stunning-news-on-preventable-deaths-in-hospitals/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/leahbinder/2013/09/23/stunning-n...
  - TeMPOraL 11y ago
    You should count only those medical errors which are relevant to your visit. A dentist probably won't accidentally damage your heart with a scalpel.
ams6110 11y ago
Anesthesia in particular. I've had some family members who were never quite the same after general anesthesia. Not as mentally sharp, more forgetful, etc.

toolz 11y ago

mistakes in medicine are one of the leading causes of death in america. It's not an unwarranted fear.

schrodinger 11y ago
Huh? Are mistakes in medicine responsible for cardiovascular disease, infectious diseases, or cancer? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leading_causes_of_death https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leading_causes_of_death
- logicchains 11y ago
  http://www.forbes.com/sites/leahbinder/2013/09/23/stunning-news-on-preventable-deaths-in-hospitals/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/leahbinder/2013/09/23/stunning-n... "With these latest revelations, medical errors now claim the spot as the third leading cause of death in the United States, dwarfing auto accidents, diabetes and everything else besides Cancer and heart disease." Based on the findings of http://journals.lww.com/journalpatientsafety/Fulltext/2013/09000/A_New,_Evidence_based_Estimate_of_Patient_Harms.2.aspx http://journals.lww.com/journalpatientsafety/Fulltext/2013/0...
  - harryjo 11y ago
    That is a highly politicized/editorialized paper, though, with a clear opinion that really belong separate from a scientific paper. It counts every death that could have been prevented by perfect care, not only harm caused by treatment in otherwise safe individuals. For example, if someone with heart disease visits hospital and the hospital does not administer best known treatment protocol and the patient dies, that's a "medical error". But at root it is a heart-disease death. Same for cancer. Some of the highlighted examples from the abstracts are extreme: >>> One example of a lethal error of communication between provider and patient occurred when cardiologists failed to warn their 19-year-old patient not to run. The patient had experienced syncope [fainting] while running, and 5 days of inpatient, diagnostic testing were inconclusive; however, his cardiologists knew he was not ready to return to running but failed to warn him against this risk. Having not been warned against running, he resumed running and died 3 weeks later while running. <<< The proper analysis is "what are your odds of survival when you choose to seek vs not seek care?"