Top Screwups Doctors Make and How to Avoid Them

A primary care doctor is skeptical of his patient’s concerns. A hospital nurse or intern is unaware of a drug’s potential side effects. A physician makes the most “common” diagnosis while overlooking the signs of a rarer and more serious illness, and the patient doesn’t see the necessary specialist until it’s too late. A pharmacist dispenses the wrong drug and a patient dies as a result.

Sadly, these kinds of mistakes happen all the time. Each year, 6.1 million Americans are harmed by dia...