When Treatment Is Worse Than The Disease

“Iatrogenic diseases” are defined by an American Medical Association as “physician-induced diseases.”

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) has released a report

(“To Err is Human”) quoted in the Journal of the American Medical Association article, which stated that “millions of Americans learned for the first time, that an estimated 44,000 to 98,000 among them died each year as a result of medical errors.” The journal would not have printed the article if they did not want people to know about it.

While most would agree that the medical profession offers invaluable assistance in the areas of clinical treatment , technology, and support services, it is important to realize that doctors do not have all the answers. We value our physicians but they are only humans and encounter difficulties. Here are some excerpts of the report in the said article : “U.S. estimates of the combined effect that occur because of iatrogenic damage, not associated with recognizable error, include 12,000 deaths/year from unnecessary surgery. 7,000 deaths/year from medication errors in hospitals. 20,000 deaths/year from other errors in hospitals. 80,000 deaths/year from nosocomial infections in hospitals. 106,000 deaths/year from non-error, adverse effects of medications.”

Ivan Illich, author of Medical Nemesis has encouraged individuals to obtain second and third opinions before they make wise and informed decisions about their health. Read extensively on the subject of their illness, and select the doctor with whom they feel the most comfortable and best able to communicate. While physicians can assist the individual in becoming healthy, health itself is the intrinsic responsibility of each person. We each possess physiological, emotional, mental, and spiritual capacities that we can bring to the process of healing.