U.S. Hospital Infections - A Serious Killer

A new report indicates U.S. hospitals for many are a potentially deadly place. According to the report, 48,000 patients in 2006 were killed in U.S. hospitals from pneumonia and blood-borne infections acquired during the patients’ hospital stay. This amounted to approximately $8.1 billion in medical costs. According to researcher Anup Malani, “In some cases, relatively healthy people check into the hospital for routine surgery. They develop sepsis because of a lapse in infection control and they can die.” Overall, it is estimated that 1.7 million healthcare-associated infections are diagnosed every year in the United States.