Study: Medical errors may be third leading cause of death in US

BALTIMORE, Maryland (KRON) — Medical errors may now be the third leading cause of death in the United States, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University.

They found that about 251,000 deaths per year are the result of medical mistakes.

They hope their analysis will lead to healthcare reforms and better patient safety measures because deaths that are caused by medical mistakes are not currently tracked.

Heart disease came in at No. 1 and cancer was No. 2.

The study was published in the latest edition of BMJ in the medical journal.CNN contributed to this report