Those were among the suggestions from a hospital regulatory organization that is waging a public awareness campaign urging patients to speak up if they think their doctors are making a mistake. 

            The goal is to stem the alarming number of medical errors from prescribing the wrong medication to operating on the wrong body part- that kill tens of thousands of people a year.

            “We’re telling people, if something looks funny, question it.  It’s okay to ask questions and expect answers,” said Dr. Dennis O’Leary, president of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.

            The tips will be included in brochures distributes at hospitals, doctors’ offices and pharmacies beginning next week as part of the “Speak Up” campaign.

            The campaign is in response to a 1999 Institute of Medicine study that found medical errors kill up to 98,000 people a year.  Although those numbers have been disputed, Dr. O’Leary said the number of errors is “way off the map of what is tolerable.”

            The campaign is supported by the Federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

SOURCE:  The Dallas Morning News, March 15, 2002.