Medical error kills 1,600 a year in Norway

OSLO, Norway, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- A study finds about 1,600 people in Norway die every year from avoidable medical errors in hospitals.

Pål Morten Paulsen, a medical student at the University of Bergen, and Guttorm Brattebø, director of emergency medicine at Haukeland University Hospital, put together the survey. Paulsen told the newspaper VG that he interviewed doctors, nurses and medical students -- and reviewed the recent literature on the subject of medical errors.

Brattebø suggested hospitals do not learn from their mistakes.

"Norwegian health personnel are trapped in a system that poses a threat to patient safety," he said. "In the wake of errors, we all too often let the chance to learn elude us."