Original version

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

More or Less

Discussion & Talk

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Tim Harford explains the numbers and statistics in the news and in life

Tim Harford explains the numbers and statistics in the news and in life.

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

BBC World Service

BBC World Service South Asia

BBC World Service News Internet

BBC World Service East Asia

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

More or Less: Why medical error is not the third leading cause of death in the US

Magazines & Reviews

Factual

Why medical error is not the third leading cause of death in the US

08/06/2024 GMT

BBC World Service - More or Less, Why medical error is not the third leading cause of death in the US

Investigating how many deaths are caused by mistakes by doctors and nurses

Investigating how many deaths are caused by mistakes by doctors and nurses in the US.

The claim that medical error is the third leading cause of death in the US has been zooming around the internet for years. 

This would mean that only heart disease and cancer killed more people than the very people trying to treat these diseases. 

But there are good reasons to be suspicious about the claim.

Professor Mary Dixon-Woods, director of The Healthcare Improvement Studies Institute, or THIS Institute, at Cambridge University, explains what’s going on.

Presenter: Tim Harford
Series producer: Tom Colls
Production coordinator: Brenda Brown
Sound mix: Nigel Appleton 
Editor: Richard Vadon

Accessibility links

Programme Index

More or Less

Why medical error is not the third leading cause of death in the US

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

About BBC World Service