World Health Organization’s Statement Raises Concerns Over Medical Malpractice and Pharmaceutical Errors in South Florida

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The World Health Organization made a startling claim this week regarding pharmaceutical error and medical malpractice in Central and South Florida.

According to the Reuters article, Liam Donaldson of the World Health Organization cited the following findings:

1- Individuals are more at risk from medical error than from flying.
2- The chances of medical error are “1 in 10” and the possibility of death is “1 in 300”.
3- 1.7 million infections in the U.S. are acquired in hospitals, leading to 100,000 deaths.
4- “Medication errors are common”.
5- The medical industry is in dire need of advanced technology and an increase in the amount of personnel to operate it.

Due to these alarming statistics, Mr. Donaldson believes that the state of medical care can not remain as it is and is in need of serious improvement. In an effort to minimize the quantity of medical errors and malpractice the World Health Organization has created a surgical safety checklist which could prevent 500,000 errors if used by hospitals. Our hope is that more hospitals in South Florida utilize this checklist and other protocols to prevent pharmaceutical errors and medical negligence thereby ensuring every patient’s safety.