研究顯示:醫療事故爲美國第三大致死原因

You've heard those hospital horror stories where the surgeon removes the wrong body part or operates on the wrong patient or accidentally leaves medical equipment in the person they were operating on.

你一定聽說過那些醫院裏發生的可怕事件，比如外科醫生切除了身體錯誤的部分；做手術把病人弄錯了；或者意外將醫療器械留在了病人身體裏等等。

Even scarier, perhaps, is a new study in the latest edition of BMJ suggesting most medical errors go unobserved, at least in the official record.

更爲駭人聽聞的是，也許就像《英國醫學期刊》最新報道的，大部分的醫療事故根本未被統計進來，至少在官方記錄裏是這樣的。

In fact, the study, from doctors at Johns Hopkins, suggests medical errors may kill more people than lower respiratory diseases like emphysema and bronchitis do. That would make these medical mistakes the third leading cause of death in the United States. That would place medical errors right behind heart disease and cancer.

事實上，由約翰霍普金斯大學醫學院的教授們進行的這項研究顯示，每年因醫療事故死亡的病人遠遠高於因患氣腫或支氣管炎等呼吸道疾病死亡的人數。醫療事故成爲了美國僅次於心臟病和癌症的第三大致死原因。

Through their analysis of four other studies examining death rate information, the doctors estimate there are at least 251,454 deaths due to medical errors annually in the United States. The authors believe the number is actually much higher, as home and nursing home deaths are not counted in that total.

通過另外四項對死亡率信息的分析，這些教授們估計，在美國每年至少有25萬1454人死於醫療事故。筆者相信真實數據一定遠不止這個數，因爲在家裏或療養院死亡的數字並未被統計在內。

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the inspector general in 2008 reported 180,000 deaths by medical error among Medicare patients alone.

美國健康和人類服務監察辦公室在2008年曾報道過，因醫療事故致死的人數爲18萬，不過它僅追蹤的是有醫療保險的病人。

Dr. Martin Makary and Dr. Michael Daniel, who did the study, hope their analysis will lead to real reform in a health care system they argue is letting patients down.

進行這項研究的馬丁·馬卡里教授和邁克爾·丹尼爾教授表示，希望他們的分析能帶來醫療系統真正的改革，因爲當前的情況實在太讓患者失望了。

One reason there's such a wide range of numbers is because accurate data on these kinds of deaths is surprisingly sparse. That's in part because death certificates don't ask for enough data, Makary said.

這些數據差異如此大，原因之一是對這類死亡的精確統計驚人的少。馬卡里教授表示，這部分是由於患者的死亡證明上並未要求顯示完整的信息。

Makary believes there should be a space on the certificate that asks if the death is related to a medical error. If the answer is yes, Makary suggests the doctor should have some legal protection so the certificate is not something that could be used in a lawsuit.

馬卡里相信，死亡證明應該是有改善的空間的，以此確認死亡是否與醫療事故有關。如果有關，他建議醫生應當受一定的法律保護，即該死亡證明不應當導致醫生被起訴。

There are barcodes that could be placed on each piece of surgical equipment so a team could account for every tool at the end of a surgery, for example. Makary believes many hospitals don't invest in technology that could prevent errors because the hospitals don't always realize how big the problem is and don't make it a priority. Funding for research on medical errors is also extremely limited.

我們還可以給每個醫療器械貼上條形碼，這樣醫生們在手術結束後就可清點數量避免意外。馬卡里認爲很多醫院不願意去投資科技以預防醫療事故，因爲這些醫院還未意識到這些問題有多嚴重，也不會優先考慮這一塊。而用於醫療事故研究的資金也是少得可憐。

The problem is not unique to the United States. Earlier studies have shown undercounted medical errors are a problem in hospitals throughout the world.

這個問題不是隻有美國纔有。更早的研究顯示，數不勝數的醫療事故一直是全球各地醫院的一大困擾。

Doctors are human and they are going to make mistakes, Makary said.

馬卡里表示，醫生畢竟也是人，難免會犯錯誤。