Editing Medical error (section)

== Misconceptions ==
Some common misconceptions about medical error include:
* Medical error is the "third leading cause of death" in the United States. This canard stems from an erroneous 2016 study which, according to [[David Gorski]], "has taken on a life of its own" and fuelled "a myth promulgated by both quacks and academics".<ref>{{cite web |vauthors=Gorski DH |publisher=Science-Based Medicine |date=4 February 2019 |title=Are medical errors really the third most common cause of death in the U.S.? (2019 edition) |url=https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/are-medical-errors-really-the-third-most-common-cause-of-death-in-the-u-s-2019-edition/ |access-date=June 6, 2022 |archive-date=June 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220607212556/https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/are-medical-errors-really-the-third-most-common-cause-of-death-in-the-u-s-2019-edition/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
* "Bad apples" or incompetent health care providers are a common cause. (Although human error is commonly an initiating event, the faulty care delivery process invariably permits or compounds the harm and so is the focus of improvement.)<ref name=Epid />
* High-risk procedures or medical specialties are responsible for most ''avoidable'' adverse events. (Although some mistakes, such as in surgery, are harder to conceal, errors occur in all levels of care.<ref name=Epid /> Even though complex procedures entail more risk, adverse outcomes are not usually due to error, but to the severity of the condition being treated.)<ref name=cause /><ref name=barrier>{{cite journal |author1=René Amalberti |author2=Yves Auroy |author3=Don Berwick |author4=Paul Barach | date=3 May 2005| title = Five System Barriers to Achieving Ultrasafe Health Care | journal = Annals of Internal Medicine | volume = 142 | pages = 756–764 | pmid = 15867408 | issue = 9 | doi=10.7326/0003-4819-142-9-200505030-00012| doi-access=free }}</ref> However, [[United States Pharmacopeia]] has reported that medication errors during the course of a surgical procedure are three times more likely to cause harm to a patient than those occurring in other types of hospital care.<ref name=Gardner />
* If a patient experiences an adverse event during the process of care, an error has occurred. (Most medical care entails some level of risk, and there can be complications or side effects, even unforeseen ones, from the underlying condition or from the treatment itself.)<ref name=toerr>{{cite book |last=Institute of Medicine |year=2000 |url=http://www.nap.edu/catalog/9728 |title=To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System |location=Washington, DC |publisher=The National Academies Press |isbn=978-0-309-26174-6 |doi=10.17226/9728 |doi-access=free |pmid=25077248 |page=4 |access-date=June 22, 2016 |archive-date=June 16, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200616054548/https://www.nap.edu/catalog/9728/to-err-is-human-building-a-safer-health-system |url-status=live }}</ref>