Medical accidents occur more often than we think. According to CNN's John Bonifield, medical errors kill more than 250,000 people in the United States each year. Due to this large number of deaths related to medical errors, hospitals and organizations are working together to reduce the high number of accidents. “Awareness of the problem has increased, but we clearly need to do more to get much closer to zero,” said Mark Chassin, chairman of the Joint Commission. Medical error statistics prove that errors happen more often than they should. Often, individuals believe that these tragedies will not happen to them. Examining the statistics of various medical rules and surgical examinations will help to understand the level of severity reached by our hospitals. Through an understanding of the causes of medical errors, the frequency of medical accidents will decrease. Common medical errors include:1. Treating the wrong patient2. Tools left after surgery3. Long waits in emergency rooms4. Surgery at the wrong site5. Waking Up During SurgeryEach year, nearly 2.5 million people go under the knife unnecessarily, often with devastating results (Guthrie 164-201). Unnecessary surgery is often performed when the patient does not pursue further investigation. If a person is suffering from back pain, the immediate response should not be surgery unless various tests have shown that surgery needs to take place. Many Americans place great trust in their doctors to always make the right decision. We must remember that doctors are humans too and are capable of making mistakes. The number of questions between a patient and a doctor can never become too large. Unnecessary surgery not only causes problems...... middle of paper...... Catherine. “BLIND operation.” Prevention 59.8 (2007): 164-201. Source Santé – General public edition. Internet. January 28, 2014.Hettiaratchy, Shehan. “Uses of errors: surgical errors.” Lancet 358.9285 (2001): 887. Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition. Internet. January 23, 2014.JFL “Guiding The Knife”. Pediatrics 90.6 (1992): 949. Health Source – Consumer Edition. Internet. January 15, 2014. Levin, Arthur A. “Training of Dangerous Doctors Continues.” » Healthfacts 31.10 (2006): 4. Alt HealthWatch. Internet. January 13, 2014.PR and Sari Harrar. “LEFT BEHIND the surgical tools.” Prevention 55.6 (2003): 163. Health Source – Consumer Edition. Internet. January 15, 2014. Woolf, Steven H. et al. “A Series of Errors: The Importance of Cascade Analysis for Describing, Counting, and Preventing Medical Errors.” Annals of Family Medicine 2.4 (2004): 317-326. Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition. Internet. January 23. 2014.