Those numbers are staggering. Medical Error as the 2nd leading cause doesn’t surprise me. I keep reminding myself that it is called “practicing” medicine. Medicine is complicated, and it would be impossible for any doctor to know it all. I have had doctors admit they don’t have a clue, but send me to someone who does. I respect them. I have had doctors apologize for their mistakes. Because they apologize, it is easy to forgive them and move on with treatment. But I have also had doctors insist I take their word as god. I suspect they are the ones contributing to the high rate for Medical Error.

What I did find surprising was that Adverse Drug Reactions was number one. But, then I probably shouldn’t be surprised. Pharmacists are trained to know if the prescriptions they are filling have interactions with other prescriptions they have filled for a patient. But what they don’t know about are the prescriptions being filled by other pharmacies, the samples given by a doctor, or the OTC meds the patient is taking. And doctors who write the prescriptions don’t always know what other doctors have prescribed.

I have long believed the Patient Information leaflets we get with prescriptions needs to be redesigned. It is typically in small narrative print that is hard to follow – particularly for the elderly. It seems to me that at the very top in bulleted fashion it should state ‘Do not take if you are taking…” followed by ‘Do not take if you have any of these conditions…’.

Bedsores is very surprising. That might explain the bed I had when I was hospitalized in October. I hated the thing. It was some type of a baffled air mattress that kept redistributing the pressure. Just about the time I found a way to get comfortable, the crazy thing moved again.

The video is fascinating, and informative about sugar in general. I’ve only watched the first 20 minutes, so haven’t gotten to the part on alcohol yet. But, I intend to finish watching in 15-20 minute intervals (since that is about all I can absorb in any one sitting). Thanks for the link.