Abramson, Brown & Dugan Attorneys

Medical errors that can lead to medical malpractice lawsuits can be caused in part by physician fatigue and stress, according to a new report in the Journal of the American Medical Association.  While this may seem like an obvious conclusion to most of us, healthcare officials have been slow to act in relieving the human factors that lead to medical errors.

“While fatigue is important, said study lead, Dr. Colin West of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, “there is this whole domain of distress beyond fatigue that also demands attention,” quoted Reuters. The findings are hoped to better enable ways to reduce stress on residents, which is hoped to reduce errors, said Reuters. “I think this is going to have an impact on health care reform,” West said. “We need (to put) resources into training and medicine to control work hours and maintain physician well-being,” he added, said Reuters.

The investigative journalism website, Dead by Mistake, estimates that 200,000 Americans die from preventable medical errors.  It seems reasonable that a percentage of these deaths is attributable to physician fatigue or stress.  As Dr. West stated, this needs to be part of the healthcare reform discussion.