By: Dave Cox

A newly formed advocacy group SHAME (Sad Humans Against Medical Errors) is testifying before Congress this week in light of a recent study that lists “Medical Errors” as the third leading cause of death in the United States. As part of their testimony, SHAME is expected to push for legislation that bans medical errors and makes it a Federal crime, punishable by 5-10 years in prison. The group’s spokesman, A.R. Quince, told reporters that, “Medical errors must stop. More than 250,000 people die each year as the result of errors committed under the care of a physician. If we can take the bold step of simply banning medical errors, we can dramatically make our society a safer place.”

When asked why his group chose not to take on heart disease or cancer, the top 2 causes of death in the United States, Quince responded that, “It’s impractical to try and ban a disease because of all the research that would be required, but medical errors are another thing altogether. The simple step of making medical errors illegal will have an immediate impact and will save lives. Also, if you go to our web site, you can order a SHAME t-shirt or bumper sticker to show everyone that you will not stand for one more medical error.”

SHAME has also proposed a 15 day waiting period on new surgical procedures and a Federal requirement to register all pre-existing conditions in a national database, but only for statistical purposes.

Source:

Washington Post: Medical Errors Now Third Leading Cause of Death in United States