When I read the story of Josie King, I was devastated. I could not imagine what her mother must have gone through, losing her child in a manner that could have been prevented. I was also horrified to learn that medical errors are responsible for approximately 98,000 deaths in America each year (Carter, 2021). This is a staggering number, and it is unacceptable that so many people are dying because of preventable mistakes. The culture of hiding mistakes in the medical field is abhorrent (Carter, 2021). Equally, I believe that every medical error should be reported and investigated in order to gain knowledge and thus endorse appropriate techniques that could prevent the errors from taking place again.
Josie’s story is a tragedy, but I am hopeful that her legacy will be one of positive change. I hope that her mother’s foundation will successfully encourage hospitals to adopt patient-safety programs, and this will eventually lead to a reduction in the number of medical errors and deaths each year. One can understand how devastating this issue is, if they have encountered a situation where they have lost their loved ones, or encountered medical errors in the process of treatment. The errors tend to have a major effect since it can mean life or death in some cases. Everyone should come together in supporting the Josie King Foundation and working to make our healthcare system safer for everyone. These errors can be avoided or at least reduced so that more people can trust the healthcare services and that they can get medical assistance.
To conclude, when I read the story of Josie King, I was horrified. I could not imagine the pain and suffering that her parents must have gone through, and I was deeply saddened that such a preventable tragedy could occur. It is unacceptable that a significant number of people die annually due to avoidable medical errors. Moreover, their families are not compensated for the errors. This is a travesty, and it is something that needs to be addressed immediately.
References
Carter, M. (2021). One mother lost her daughter to a medical error, now she’s raising awareness. Future of Personal Health.