Medical errors have more recently been recognized as a serious public health problem, reported as the third leading cause of death in the US.[1] However, because medical errors are comprised of different types of failures (eg, diagnostic or medication errors) that can result in various outcomes (eg, near-miss, injury, or no harm), estimates of the incidence of medical errors vary widely in studies. One study reported that approximately 400,000 hospitalized patients experience some preventable...
