A new study shows that surgeons who are exhausted are morelikely to say they had recently committed a major error on the job.

The study, conducted by Johns Hopkins University School ofMedicine, is the largest study to date on physician fatigue. Charles M. Balch,M.D., one of the study’s leaders, said of the findings “people have talked aboutfatigue and long working hours, but our results indicate that the dominantcontributors to self-reported medical errors are burnout and depression… All ofus need to take this into account to a greater degree than in the past.Frankly, burnout and depression hadn’t been on everybody’s radar screen.”

Out of the 7,905 surgeons who responded to the study, ninepercent reported having made a major medical mistake in the previous threemonths. Forty percent of the surgeons surveyed described themselves as “burnedout.”

If you or a loved one has been the victim of Pennsylvaniamedical malpractice, please contact a Philadelphia medical malpractice lawyer of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C. by calling 215-329-3511.