Burton's News & Observer Op-Ed on Medical Errors

On Thursday, the News and Observer published an opinion piece by Dr. James Bryan and Burton Craige entitled Harmed in the Hospital. It begins: "In 1999, the Institute of Medicine reported that medical errors in American hospitals cause up to 98,000 deaths and more than 1 million injuries each year. In response to the institute's report, hospitals in North Carolina and around the country announced initiatives to improve patient safety. A recent article in The New England Journal of Medicine assessed the efficacy of these initiatives. Looking exclusively at hospitals in North Carolina, the article reported a shockingly high rate of preventable injuries to patients, and little or no improvement over time."

Check out the whole article.