Dangers in hospitals

The author of a new book on hospital medical errors and infections told a news conference in Belleville yesterday that they form the second biggest cause of death in Canada, cancer being the first.

Author William Charney, a consultant for the Canadian Union of Public Employees, says hospital cost-cutting planned by the Ontario government will make the epidemic worse.

His book, “Epidemic and Medical Errors and Hospital-Acquired Infections,” indicates that 18-percent of hospital admissions result in medical errors, that’s 24-thousand deaths a year in Ontario.

And spokesman for the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions, Michael Hanley, says he would like to see the government introduce programs similar to those in Scotland and the Netherlands where hospitals have strict rules about reporting medical errors.