A medical error is a preventable negative impact of care, regardless of whether it is visible or detrimental to the patient. An incorrect or incomplete diagnosis or treatment of a sickness, accident, syndrome, behavior, infection, or other affliction is one example. Globally, it is projected that 142,000 people died in 2013 as a result of unfavorable medical treatment, up from 94,000 in 1990. However, according to a 2016 research of the number of deaths in the United States as a result of medical error, the annual death rate in the United States alone is 251,454, suggesting that the 2013 global estimate may not be correct. Medical errors are generated by errors of commission and omission, according to the scientific literature. Errors of omission occur when providers fail to act when they should, whereas errors of commission occur when judgments and actions are delayed. Communication difficulties have also been linked to commission and omission errors.
Inexperienced physicians and nurses, novel procedures, extremes of age, and complex or urgent care have all been linked to medical blunders. Poor communication (in one’s own or another language, as in the case of medical tourists), inaccurate paperwork, illegible handwriting, spelling errors, inadequate nurse-to-patient ratios, and drugs with similar names are all known to contribute to the problem.
