Update on To Err is Human Report

The Journal of the American Medical Association has an article by Lucian L. Leape, MD; Donald M. Berwick, MD., which provides a commentary on the five years since the "To Err is Human" report by the Institute of Medicine.  They argue that the report has not dramatically improved health care safety although they are somewhat hopeful about future trends.

USA Today ran a brief story on this article.  As Professor Ross Silverman (who kindly pointed out these articles to me) noted, however, the USA Today piece misrepresents the nature of Leape's piece, which is a commentary and not a study.  Thank you to Professor Silverman and a big congratulations on his tenure!!  [bm]