Blog

Latrogenic events among newborns are frequent and often preventable

Posted by: David Patton
February 08, 2008
Topic: Medical errors

ST LOUIS (MD Consult) - Iatrogenic events (IEs)-that is, unintended harm or suffering arising from any aspect of health-care management-occur frequently in newborn babies, are sometimes serious, and often preventable, authors report in the February 2, 2008 edition of The Lancet. Medical errors were estimated to have caused 44,000 deaths in the US every year. However, available reports on IEs have focused mainly on adults. More information is needed to excess the risk to newborn babies, who are a high-risk group. Professor Umberto Simeoni, Division of Neonatology, La Conception Hospital, Marseille, France, and colleagues did an observational, prospective study of IEs in all newborn babies* admitted to the Division of Neonatology of an academic, tertiary neonatal centre in southern France between January and September 2005. For the study, iatrogenic events were defined as any event that compromised the safety margin for the patient, in the presence or absence of harm. The report of an IE was voluntary, anonymous, and non-punitive. The primary outcome was the rate of IEs per 1,000 patient days. This study allows the cause, severity, and preventability of iatrogenic events in neonatology to be defined," the authors said. "A third of all iatrogenic events and more than a quarter of severe iatrogenic events were preventable. Iatrogenic events seem to be less preventable in neonates that in adults and children, in whom 40-60% of adverse events are preventable.