Secrecy shields medical mishaps from public view

Experts estimate that 98,000 people die from preventable medical errors each year. More Americans die each month of preventable medical injuries than died in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Meanwhile, a federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study concluded that an additional 99,000 patients a year succumb to hospital-acquired infections. Almost all of those deaths, experts say, also are preventable.

These numbers are not absolutes. There is no definitive study - which is part of the problem - but all of the available research indicates that the death toll from preventable medical injuries and infections approaches 200,000 per year in the United States.

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