CNN: More than 1 in 3 surgical patients has complications, study finds, and many are the result of medical errors

Despite decades of calls for more attention to patient safety in hospitals, people undergoing surgery still have high rates of complications and medical errors, a new study finds.

More than a third of patients admitted to the hospital for surgery have adverse events related to their care, and at least 1 in 5 of these complications is the result of medical errors, the researchers found.

Studies delving into adverse events and medical errors in hospital settings are few and far between, and each has slightly different methods, so their results aren’t always an apples-to-apples comparison. But the latest study, which was published Thursday in the BMJ, fits into a pattern of evidence going back decades, suggesting that hospitals haven’t made much progress on patient safety.

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Source: CNN, 15 November 2024