Doctors: The Third Leading Cause of Death in the US?

As scary as it sounds, it's true. According to the most respected medical publication in the world The Journal of the American Medical Association, the third leading cause of death in the US after heart disease and cancer is doctor-induced or iatrogenic . Iatrogenic disease is defined as disease induced in a patient by a doctor's activity, manner or therapy; in short, it is a complication of treatment. The article dealt only with deaths in a hospital setting.

The article, which reported on a study conducted at John Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health, was a follow up to a study by the Institute of Medicine published in November 1999. The statistics given are 250,000 deaths per year broken down as follows: ¨ 12,000 die from unnecessary surgeries ¨ 7,000 die from drug errors made in hospitals ¨ 20,000 die from other hospital errors ¨ 80,000 die from infections obtained while in hospital ¨ 106,000 die not from errors but from negative effects of drugs

This study does not take into account several other factors such as complications and errors not resulting in deaths but which cause serious illnesses requiring more tests, more drugs, more emergency room visits and more surgery. Also not looked at are problems that occur in non-hospital settings: walk-in clinics, doctor's offices, private laboratories, etc. If these settings were taken into the data, the entire picture would be far frightening than it is.

This study took place in the US, which is the leading nation in the area of medical innovations and research. The shocking results of these studies would perhaps be justified if the US also lead the world's nations in such key health areas as life expectancy and infant mortality. However, the facts do not support the assumption either. In a recent report by the World Health Organization, the US ranks 12th out of 13 countries in 16 key health indicators. Hopefully, these facts will serve as a wake up call to doctors and patients alike. The message is clear: the modern medical paradigm is a flat out failure.

Hopefully, these facts will serve as a wake up call to doctors and patients alike. The message is clear: the modern medical paradigm is a flat out failure.

I have hesitated writing an article on this subject for some time, as I do not want to appear as a chiropractor to be criticizing another profession. However, the facts are so clear and the danger so real that I feel it is a truth that everyone should be aware of. Everyone who takes a drug, whether by prescription or over the counter, everyone who is scheduled for an invasive test, and everyone who is admitted to hospital should be informed much more fully of the potentially lethal dangers facing them in the form of doctor-induced disease.