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American Morning

Paging Dr. Gupta: Hospital Errors

Aired October 09, 2003 - 08:46   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: One of the leading causes of death in the U.S. might be preventable. It is not cancer or heart disease. It's hospital errors. And Dr. Sanjay Gupta join us from the CNN center with details of this new study.
Sanjay, good morning.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

This issue's been on the radar screen for a few years now. Back in 1999, there was a report that came out, an alarming report, that said there were 98,000 medical mistakes leading to deaths each year. That's medical mistakes.

Now there's a new report trying to give a little bit more data to exactly what these mistakes are and what the impact of these mistakes are.

A new report now coming out. This is from the Department of Health and Human Services, one of the agencies there, looking specifically at 994 hospitals around the country. And what they are finding is that based on their data, looking at 18 types of complications, that there are 32,000 deaths each year, leading to about 2.4 million extra days in the hospital and $9 billion in extra health care costs.

Most people ask, well, what are these specific types of complications that were looked at? Most specifically here -- and there are all sorts of different complications. Take a look at the list of some of them. One of the most common types, I'll say, is obstetric trauma. That's a type of trauma that's actually not involving any kind of instrumentation during the birthing process, but still trauma to either the mother or the child, bed sores or pressure sores. That's usually from patients who have been in the hospital for a long time. These sores can be very significant, leading to infection, something known as postoperative pulmonary embolism. These are these clots, Soledad, that go from your legs to your lungs. They can often be deadly as well, and then infections due to medical care.

Soledad, one of the numbers I mentioned already, 32,000 deaths, doesn't jibe with the 98,000 deaths that people are quoting so often. Talked to several people about that as well. The important point here is the numbers probably aren't as crucially important. There are some who believe the numbers are actually higher than this, because this was just looking at hospitals, not also offices, clinics and things like that. There are people who think the numbers are lower, because this is looking at all sorts of complications, and not all these complications lead to death.

But regardless, I think the one point everyone agrees on is that the numbers, whatever they may be, are just simply too high, and this is going to focus a lot of attention back on this particular problem -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: But, Sanjay, you know, when you look at those complications that lead to death, it seems to some degree it's out of the patient's hand. I mean, what possibly can a patient who's going to the hospital do to protect against some of those things that seem to be completely the doctor or the hospital's fault?

GUPTA: Some of them certainly can be out of the patient's hands, and I think doctors, hospitals and clinics are recognizing that to a large degree. There is a role, I think, an important role, for patient advocacy as well. This is a common issue that comes up, trust your doctors, trust your hospitals.

But the thing is that patients have to be their own best advocates as well, in terms of asking good questions. It's also striking to me, Soledad, as an example, if you go buy a house, for example, you check out the neighborhood, you check out the school, you learn about a sewage tax. Most people don't do all of that due diligence when it comes to their hospitals and their doctors. I think it's important to be an informed patient. It's important to be an informed patient about your particular disease process as well. Trust the doctors. Trust the hospitals as much as you should. But also, you know, be your own best advocate.

Also, second opinions. That's another tip that people talk about. Most doctors are not offended by second opinions. It's a good idea to sometimes get a fresh set of eyes if you are not sure about your diagnosis.

O'BRIEN: Hey, and if your doctor is offended by a second opinion, it's probably a good reason to leave him and go to someone else.

All right, Sanjay, thanks. Great advice as always.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired October 9, 2003 - 08:46   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: One of the leading causes of death in the U.S. might be preventable. It is not cancer or heart disease. It's hospital errors. And Dr. Sanjay Gupta join us from the CNN center with details of this new study.
Sanjay, good morning.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

This issue's been on the radar screen for a few years now. Back in 1999, there was a report that came out, an alarming report, that said there were 98,000 medical mistakes leading to deaths each year. That's medical mistakes.

Now there's a new report trying to give a little bit more data to exactly what these mistakes are and what the impact of these mistakes are.

A new report now coming out. This is from the Department of Health and Human Services, one of the agencies there, looking specifically at 994 hospitals around the country. And what they are finding is that based on their data, looking at 18 types of complications, that there are 32,000 deaths each year, leading to about 2.4 million extra days in the hospital and $9 billion in extra health care costs.

Most people ask, well, what are these specific types of complications that were looked at? Most specifically here -- and there are all sorts of different complications. Take a look at the list of some of them. One of the most common types, I'll say, is obstetric trauma. That's a type of trauma that's actually not involving any kind of instrumentation during the birthing process, but still trauma to either the mother or the child, bed sores or pressure sores. That's usually from patients who have been in the hospital for a long time. These sores can be very significant, leading to infection, something known as postoperative pulmonary embolism. These are these clots, Soledad, that go from your legs to your lungs. They can often be deadly as well, and then infections due to medical care.

Soledad, one of the numbers I mentioned already, 32,000 deaths, doesn't jibe with the 98,000 deaths that people are quoting so often. Talked to several people about that as well. The important point here is the numbers probably aren't as crucially important. There are some who believe the numbers are actually higher than this, because this was just looking at hospitals, not also offices, clinics and things like that. There are people who think the numbers are lower, because this is looking at all sorts of complications, and not all these complications lead to death.

But regardless, I think the one point everyone agrees on is that the numbers, whatever they may be, are just simply too high, and this is going to focus a lot of attention back on this particular problem -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: But, Sanjay, you know, when you look at those complications that lead to death, it seems to some degree it's out of the patient's hand. I mean, what possibly can a patient who's going to the hospital do to protect against some of those things that seem to be completely the doctor or the hospital's fault?

GUPTA: Some of them certainly can be out of the patient's hands, and I think doctors, hospitals and clinics are recognizing that to a large degree. There is a role, I think, an important role, for patient advocacy as well. This is a common issue that comes up, trust your doctors, trust your hospitals.

But the thing is that patients have to be their own best advocates as well, in terms of asking good questions. It's also striking to me, Soledad, as an example, if you go buy a house, for example, you check out the neighborhood, you check out the school, you learn about a sewage tax. Most people don't do all of that due diligence when it comes to their hospitals and their doctors. I think it's important to be an informed patient. It's important to be an informed patient about your particular disease process as well. Trust the doctors. Trust the hospitals as much as you should. But also, you know, be your own best advocate.

Also, second opinions. That's another tip that people talk about. Most doctors are not offended by second opinions. It's a good idea to sometimes get a fresh set of eyes if you are not sure about your diagnosis.

O'BRIEN: Hey, and if your doctor is offended by a second opinion, it's probably a good reason to leave him and go to someone else.

All right, Sanjay, thanks. Great advice as always.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com