John Kerry: “Incidents of medical errors are growing. Countless Americans risk serious injury because of mistakes made in hospitals…”

“Incidents of medical errors are growing. Countless Americans risk serious injury because of mistakes made in hospitals and in other places. Medical errors occur all over the system. In hospitals alone, the Institute of Medicine has reported that between 44,000 and 98,000 Americans are killed by medical errors annually. Using the 44,000 figure, medical errors are the eighth leading cause of death in the United States, more than breast cancer and more than AIDS. So I think to take away from Americans the single available tool they have to try to make the system be accountable, in the absence of any other responsible effort, is wrong. Using the 98,000 figure, medical errors would be the fifth-leading cause of death in this country. As the IOM report puts it, these stunningly high rates of medical errors--resulting in deaths, permanent disability and unnecessary suffering are unacceptable in a medical system that promises first to do no harm. Now, clearly, some medical errors are the direct result of physician negligence and many are not. But it is clear that we ought to think long and hard before placing an arbitrary cap on the financial value of human life.”