Medical Injuries Hurt 18% of Hospital Patients, U.S. Study Says
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Almost one in five hospital patients was injured by their care, according to a study of 10 U.S. hospitals that found little improvement from industry and government efforts to improve safety.
The six-year study of 2,341 hospital admissions in North Carolina found that 18 percent of patients suffered at least one safety-related incident, ranging from minor injuries with little harm to life-threatening mistakes and fourteen deaths. The rate of injuries did not decrease significantly from 2002 to 2007, researchers reported in the study published today in the New England Journal of Medicine.