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[SJC <indexer AT localnet.com>]

I went looking just now for current figures on iatrogenic deaths in this 
country, but as usual, they are not easy to come by.  Not really 
something any of us want to think too hard about, I guess.

I no longer have mine (burned in house fire) but I remembered this 
article in the Journal of the American Medical Association, which is 
only available on the net for $$, although some libraries carry it and a 
lot of hospital libraries will let the public in (another closely-held 
fact) but someone has copied it to a blog at 
http://digg.com/health/Doctors_May_Be_Third_Leading_Cause_of_Death

Those are of course, not current figures and no matter what, are 'way 
low.  I have seen many deaths go unmarked so far as causative factors.  
For instance, had I had the good grace to croak this spring before my 
diagnosis and subsequent treatment, my death certificate would 
undoubtedly have read simply "pulmonary thrombosis" with no note as to 
neglect/lack of dx/treatment or anything else, for that matter.  I've 
seen estimates that reporting of iatrogenic death ranges from 5% to 20% 
of actual cases.....pretty scary when you do the numbers.

And these are only deaths.  They don't count the incidents that involve 
a less-than-dead patient, such as medication errors that don't result in 
death, surgeries done on the wrong limb, etc....

Susan Jane, in Maine