The Third largest cause of death in the United States is due to medical errors.   More than 250,000. die each people a year!

According to the CDC, in 2013, 611,105 people died of heart disease, 584,881 died of cancer and 149,205 died of chronic respiratory disease — the top three causes of death in the U.S. The newly calculated figure for medical errors puts this cause of death behind cancer but ahead of respiratory disease.

“Top-ranked causes of death as reported by the CDC, inform our country’s research funding and public health priorities,” says Makary. “Right now, cancer and heart disease get a ton of attention, but since medical errors don’t appear on the list, the problem doesn’t get the funding and attention it deserves.”

The researchers caution that most of medical errors aren’t due to inherently bad doctors, and that reporting these errors shouldn’t be addressed by punishment or legal action. Rather, they say, most errors represent systemic problems, including poorly coordinated care, fragmented insurance networks, the absence or underuse of safety nets, and other protocols, in addition to unwarranted variation in physician practice patterns that lack accountability.  More from John Hopkins 

What can you do to avoid Medical Errors?

One of the biggest challenges is that the medical community see you as parts and not as a whole.  One Doc takes care of the heart another the blood another the pathology another the screening and so it goes.

First,  take a breath and try to understand why there is dysfunction and pain and what could be the root cause?

Second, have an advocate you can ask questions and help listen to what type of care and tests are recommended and why. Always ask for the “therapeutic rationale”

Third, get an opinion from a wholistic doctor: some who view the body as a whole and understands the relationships between the body systems.

Last but not least, unless there has been a trauma, like an accident chances are that your lifestyle choices could use an edit.