The American Iatrogenic Association
http://www.iatrogenic.org/
The American Iatrogenic Association is devoted to the study and
reporting of medical errors that lead to disease and death.
In 2000, a presidential task force labelled medical errors a "national problem of epidemic proportions." Members estimated that the "cost
associated with these errors in lost income, disability, and health
care costs is as much as $29 billion annually." That same year the
Institute of Medicine released an historic report, "To err is human:
building a safer health system." The report's authors concluded that
44,000 to 98,000 people die each year as a result of errors during hospitalization. They noted that "even when using the lower estimate,
deaths due to medical errors exceed the number attributable to the 8th- leading cause of death." The addition of non-hospital errors may drive
the numbers of errors and deaths much higher. As the authors note, the hospital data "offer only a very modest estimate of the magnitude of
the problem since hospital patients represent only a small proportion
of the total population at risk, and direct hospital costs are only a fraction of total costs."
Medical errors are the not only way that consumers are harmed. The
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 2 million
people annually acquire infections while hospitalized and 90,000
people die from those infections. More than 70 percent of hospital-
acquired infections have become resistant to at least one of the drugs commonly used to treat them, largely due to the overprescribing of antibiotics by physicians. Staph, the leading cause of hospital
infections, is now resistant to 95 percent of first-choice antibiotics
and 30 percent of second-choice antibiotics. Poor staff hygiene is
considered the leading source for infections acquired during hospitalizations. But efforts to get medical workers to improve safety through things as simple as better and more frequent hand washing have
met with little success.
There is much disagreement as to what constitutes iatrogenic illness.
For decades, peptic ulcers were said to be caused by an emotional
disorder which prevented afflicted people from managing "stress."
Physicians instructed many people with ulcers to change their
lifestyles and, in some cases, to take anti-anxiety medications. In
recent years researchers determined that most peptic ulcers were
caused by a bacteria treatable with antibiotics. Were the adverse
emotional and treatment consequences of misdiagnosing ulcers as a
psychiatric illness iatrogenic? Similarly, for many years epilepsy was
said by medical experts to be evidence of pathological criminality. Epileptics were imprisoned in "colonies," to isolate them from the
general population. Were the obviously damaging effects of this
"treatment" iatrogenic? Are the present large-scale drugging of
children (mostly boys) diagnosed with "Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder," and the former "treatment" of homosexuals with
electroconvulsive therapy (shock treatment), insulin coma, and
lobotomy examples of iatrogenic disease? Most physicians would say
they are not, yet the harm resulting from these erroneous diagnoses
and severe "treatments" are no less damaging for the people who
suffered them.
AiA casts a bright light on this debate, opening up medicine's murky
side to public scrutiny and offering help to its victims. Our new web
site will accomplish this in various and evolving ways, including:
the publishing of articles, essays, studies, book excerpts
making recommendations that will protect you from iatrogenic illness publishing data on the risks of various medical procedures
investigating ways that an iatrogenically harmed person might be made
well and, when appropriate, compensated for his or her disability and suffering
legal referrals
offering proposals for political and social changes that reduce
iatrogenic risk and hold perpetrators accountable
an opportunity for iatrogenic victims to share their experiences with
our readers
The site invites the participation of medical, legal, and political specialists, but it is designed for the general public and to be as
free of obfuscatory medical jargon as possible.
If you agree with the objectives of the AIA you can help by making a donation.
Please note that donations to the American Iatrogenic Association are
not tax-deductible.
Nicolas S. Martin, Executive Director
This site contains some files in the Acrobat (pdf) format. The free
Reader necessary to read these files can be downloaded here.
Our e-mail address: aia@iatrogenic.org
http://www.iatrogenic.org/
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