Researchers from Johns Hopkins University did and extensive study looking at the issue of medical errors and the number of lives that are lost in the US every year because of them. Ana Kasparian, Brett Erlich (Pop Trigger), and Kim Horcher (Nerd Alert), hosts of The Young Turks, break it down. Tell us what you think in the comment section below.

“Their analysis, published in the BMJ on Tuesday, shows that “medical errors” in hospitals and other health care facilities are incredibly common and may now be the third leading cause of death in the United States — claiming 251,000 lives every year, more than respiratory disease, accidents, stroke and Alzheimer’s.

Martin Makary, a professor of surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine who led the research, said in an interview that the category includes everything from bad doctors to more systemic issues such as communication breakdowns when patients are handed off from one department to another.

“It boils down to people dying from the care that they receive rather than the disease for which they are seeking care,” Makary said.”