Medical errors kill more people each year than plane crashes, terrorist attacks, and drug overdoses combined. And there's collateral damage that often goes unnoticed: Every day, our healers quietly live with those they have wounded or even killed. Their ghosts creep into exam rooms, their cries haunt dreams, and seeing new patients can reopen old wounds.
"Every practicing physician has either made an error that harmed a patient or certainly been involved in the care of a patient who has been harmed," says Albert Wu, who directs the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Services and Outcome Research.
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