Medical mistakes are the third leading cause of death in the United States, after heart disease and cancer.
A recent Johns Hopkins study claims more than 250,000 people in the U.S. die every year from medical errors.
Other reports claim the numbers to be as high as 440,000.
There are many ways that your medical care can go wrong. All of the phases from diagnosis to treatment can have some type of error.
Studies of error types: An Institute of Medical Report attempted to quantify the types of medical errors that occur in healthcare settings.
One cited study lists causes of errors as follows: