In 1999, the Institute of Medicine published the famous "To Err Is Human" report, which dropped a bombshell on the medical community by reporting that up to 98,000 people a year die because of mistakes in hospitals. The number was initially disputed, but is now widely accepted by doctors and hospital officials - and quoted ubiquitously in the media. Now comes a study in the current issue of the Journal of Patient Safety, that says the numbers may be much higher, between 210,000 and 440,000 patients, each year, who go to the hospital for care, suffer some type of preventable harm that contributes to their death. That would make medical errors the third-leading cause of death in America, behind heart disease, which is the first, and cancer, which is second. In other news, there is an update in the FDA and FTC review of regulations regarding homeopathic drugs, as last week, FTC staff announced that it has submitted a comment to FDA. The comment was approved by the Commission by a vote of 5-0. Not surprisingly, FTC staff took the position that "claims for homeopathic drugs must be supported by competent and reliable scientific evidence". In hour 2, RSB will be joined by Joni Abbott of Homegrown Health, to get a feminine take on the medical paradigms facing women in our eve changing world of medical land mines. Ever heard of a drug called Belsomra? This pretty little present from the pharmaceutical industrial complex was designed to insomnia associated with disrupted sleep cycles. A couple of "minor" side effects which are associated with the use of this pharmacological wonder pill are unusual thoughts or behavior, hallucinations, thoughts about hurting yourself, daytime drowsiness, dizziness, weakness, feeling "drugged" or light-headed, amnesia or forgetfulness, a weak feeling in your legs, and to end with ,strange dreams! http://www.robertscottbell.com/?p=31432