From the February 2004 Idaho Observer:

American medicine now the leading cause of death in U.S.

NEW YORK -- The Nutritional Institute of America (NIA) recently announced its research findings that iatrogenic (doctor-induced) disease has replaced heart disease as the #1 killer of Americans.

The NIA, founded in 1974 by New York health activist Gary Null, Ph.D., reported October 28, 2003, that the death toll from medical errors in the preceding 12-month period was 783,936. Deaths from heart disease were 669,697 during the same period and cancer came in third at 553,251.

The NIA report is not out of line with a report from Congress in 2001 estimating that nearly one-half million people per year die from complications associated with misdiagnosis, correct and incorrect administration of prescription pharmaceutical drugs, unnecessary surgeries and incompetence.

“It is evident that the American medical system is the leading cause of death in the United States,” Null observed.

Among the most common iatrogenic developments leading to death are post-operative complications and adverse in-hospital reactions to pharmaceutical drugs

The NIA report is based upon data from 994 hospitals nationwide. The report indicated that the numbers could be much worse. A study of two hospitals found that nurses intercepted 86 percent of medication errors before they reached patients.