To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System

As many as 98,000 people die each year from medical errors that occur in hospitals. That's more than die from motor vehicle accidents, breast cancer, and AIDS -- making medical errors the fifth leading cause of death in this country. The Institute of Medicine now seeks to improve the quality of care in America by focusing on the facts and making wide-ranging recommendations. We know that skilled and caring professionals can -- and do -- make mistakes because, after all, to err is human. It's time to build a better system.