Sources of Harm: Prescription Drugs, Surgery, and Infections

Most medical harm is from prescription drugs, surgery, and healthcare-acquired infections. Although the full extent of medical harm remains to be accurately gauged, estimates of incidence have tended to grow larger with each successive detailed assessment. Estimates of the extent of harm in the United States published by the Institutes of Medicine in 2000, which at the time were so shocking as to be disbelieved by some authorities, have since been consistently eclipsed by further detailed analyses. Recent studies show that harm from drugs and infections individually exceeds estimates of what was previously thought to be the total of healthcare-related harm from all causes. The emergence of antibiotic-resistant microorganisms, due primarily to the use, misuse, and overuse of antibiotics, is a particularly ominous threat to future personal and population health.