James M. Jeffords: “I came to the floor today to commend our colleagues and extend my appreciation to them because last night the Senate…”

“I came to the floor today to commend our colleagues and extend my appreciation to them because last night the Senate unanimously passed S. 544, the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005. I do not believe it is too great an exaggeration to say that this bill will be among the most significant healthcare legislation the Senate will consider during this Congress. I say that because I believe this legislation will contribute immensely to the current efforts that are underway to save lives and reduce the tragedy of needless medical errors. This legislation starts with a simple premise. Let us set up a system that helps our health care providers learn from each other. Let us set up a system that promotes the reporting and analysis of medical errors. Let us set up a system that engenders the trust of providers and the patients they serve. The passage of this legislation represents the successful culmination of efforts, by many of our colleagues, that began with the publication of a small but significant report about medical errors. With the publication of the Institute of Medicine, IOM, study, To Err is Human in 1999, we were all reminded that Hippocrates' maxim to ``first, do no harm'' is as relevant to the practice of medicine today as it was in 400 B.C. That IOM report was among the first to galvanize national attention on the issue of patient safety when it reported that medical errors contribute to approximately 100,000 patient deaths a year.…”