[GailA]

Since this is a LAT article it is excerted.

[alloysteel]

What this article is saying, then, is that people should stay home and die. That makes sense.

People go to hospitals because they are in desperate need of medical attention, and may have a condition that is life-threatening already. They are making a bet that the medical professionals there won't make an error, or that the aseptic conditions presumed to be maintained at the hospital won't be breached by a failure in housekeeping, or that they won't be turned away because of some rules set by a third party, or because there is no other place for them to go.

Mostly, they make good on the bet. When they don't, only the lawyers win.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Number of physicians in the US - 700,000
Accidental deaths caused per year - 120,000
Accidental deaths/physician = 0.171


Number of gun owners in the US = 80,000,000
Number of accidental gun death / year (all age groups) = 1,500
Accidental deaths/gun owner = 0.0000188

Therefore, Doctors are approximately 9000 times more dangerous than gun owners.

[Beck_isright]

Don't worry. According to many, each death is only worth $250,000.

[LeftIsSinister]

...said Brenda Klutz, deputy director of licensing and certification at the California Department of Health Services.

I apologize if it seems I'm making light of this tragedy, but, this is truly an unfortunate name for someone in this position!

[TaxRelief]

I believe that the problems, when they do occur, come from the fact that some members of the surgical team are "behind the scenes players" that have had no contact with the awake patient or the family. Anesthesiologists, in particular, often meet their patients two minutes before they knock them out. Someone that important to the patient's survival should at least see the patient as a person prior to treating them. It is because of this "person-patient theory" that our family members usually make an appointment with the anesthesiologist prior to surgery.

[Consort]

Follow the body parts.

[Jay D. Dyson]

It's kinda old news, really. Pro-2A folks have been having a field day with this news for some time, as evidenced by this page. ;)

-Jay