PATIENT SAFETY WEEK - March 7-12, 2010

It's Our Money and Our Lives-Time to Take Control of Our Health Care

CHICAGO, March 11, 2010- Patient care errors and the costs to treat them have tripled to 271,000 deaths and $66 billion wasted dollars this past decade. Improving the quality of patient care was suggested in 1999, by the Institute of Medicine when they reported that 44,000 to 98,000 die each year from preventable medical error and the overuse, misuse, and under use of care. Wrong site surgeries, prescription errors, etc. had to be corrected or more people would be lost to these unnecessary errors, including the EPIDEMIC of infections due to 50% of our caregivers do not washing their hands.

The medical community, government, and insurers have failed to protect us from unnecessary harm and the extraordinary costs we cannot afford. We must take health care into our own hands. We must demand rates of infection and medical error be reported in every state, and public participation as a vital member of the health team, including preventative health information and coverage, safer procedures in radiation and treatments, sterile conditions, and access to a National Practitioner Data Base.

WE MUST HOLD HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS ACCOUNTABLE. We must insist on ending the practice of RESIDENT DOCTORS WORKING 30 HOURS SHIFTS. MONEY AND GIFTS GIVEN to doctors, hospitals, nursing homes and legislators from Lobbyists and special interests should be against the law . Patient Safety Week IS the RIGHT TIME FOR US TO HAVE A HEALTH CARE REVOLUTION and DEMAND A CONSUMER HEALTH PROTECTION AGENCY BE ESTABLISHED IMMEDIATELY AS PART OF HEALTH REFORM .

All the efforts of SAVE THE PATIENT promote positive and productive interactions between patients and medical professionals by encouraging individuals to know and implement their rights to ask questions, receive understandable answers, and explore medical options. “SAVE THE PATIENT'S mission is to assist the public in becoming better health care consumers. Visit www.savethepatient.org for more info.

SAVE THE PATIENT was established in May 2001, to provide objective health care information to people of all ages, cultures, and socioeconomic backgrounds. SAVE THE PATIENT educates, informs, and empowers the public to make responsible health care decisions for themselves and their families. SAVE THE PATIENT does not practice medicine nor represent or endorse professional diagnosis or treatment options. For more information, please contact via E-mail at savethepatient@aol.com or call at