Medical Errors Below Global Average

Annually, around 12,000 to 13,000 complaints are filed by patients against the medical fraternity for negligence, said Mohsen Khalili, head of the Disciplinary Office at Iran’s Medical Council on Monday. “That is out of the 800 million medical services that are provided across the country,” every year, he told ISNA. Medical errors occur in 0.1% of all services provided, according to figures released by the council, while the global average rate is between 3-5%. But according to some medical experts, the actual rate of preventable medical harm is higher than the officially reported figures as physicians usually don’t disclose their mistakes to patients.  Also, in some cases patients don’t file complaints against doctors.