Health Care

Medical Errors

Errors or mistakes committed by health professionals which result in harm to the patient. They include errors in diagnosis (DIAGNOSTIC ERRORS), errors in the administration of drugs and other medications (MEDICATION ERRORS), errors in the performance of surgical procedures, in the use of other types of therapy, in the use of equipment, and in the interpretation of laboratory findings. Medical errors are differentiated from MALPRACTICE in that the former are regarded as honest mistakes or accidents while the latter is the result of negligence, reprehensible ignorance, or criminal intent.

National Library of MedicineMedical Subject Headings2026

Structured Summary

Abstract

Errors or mistakes committed by health professionals which result in harm to the patient. They include errors in diagnosis (DIAGNOSTIC ERRORS), errors in the administration of drugs and other medications (MEDICATION ERRORS), errors in the performance of surgical procedures, in the use of other types of therapy, in the use of equipment, and in the interpretation of laboratory findings. Medical errors are differentiated from MALPRACTICE in that the former are regarded as honest mistakes or accidents while the latter is the result of negligence, reprehensible ignorance, or criminal intent.

MeSH Record

Classification

Broader headings

Narrower headings

Related Concepts

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See Also

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Synonyms

50 entry terms
  • Errors, Medical
  • Medical Mistake
  • Medical Mistakes
  • Mistake, Medical
  • Mistakes, Medical
  • Error, Medical
  • Medical Error
  • Critical Incidents, Medical
  • Critical Medical Incidents
  • Errors, Surgical
  • Medical Error of Commission
  • Medical Error of Omission
  • Medical Errors of Commission
  • Medical Errors of Omission
  • Never Event
  • Surgical Error
  • Surgical Errors
  • Wrong-Patient Surgery
  • Wrong-Procedure Errors
  • Wrong-Site Surgery
  • Commission Medical Error
  • Commission Medical Errors
  • Critical Incident, Medical
  • Critical Medical Incident
  • Error, Surgical
  • Error, Wrong-Procedure
  • Errors, Wrong-Procedure
  • Event, Never
  • Events, Never
  • Incident, Critical Medical
  • Incident, Medical Critical
  • Incidents, Critical Medical
  • Incidents, Medical Critical
  • Medical Critical Incident
  • Medical Critical Incidents
  • Medical Incident, Critical
  • Medical Incidents, Critical
  • Never Events
  • Omission Medical Error
  • Omission Medical Errors
  • Surgeries, Wrong-Patient
  • Surgeries, Wrong-Site
  • Surgery, Wrong-Patient
  • Surgery, Wrong-Site
  • Wrong Patient Surgery
  • Wrong Procedure Errors
  • Wrong Site Surgery
  • Wrong-Patient Surgeries
  • Wrong-Procedure Error
  • Wrong-Site Surgeries

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Aspects Covered

13 allowable subheadings

Indexed with the subheadings adverse effects, classification, economics, ethics, history, legislation & jurisprudence, mortality, nursing, prevention & control, psychology, statistics & numerical data, trends, veterinary.

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Indexing Annotation

coordinate with specific disease or procedure; do not confuse with MALPRACTICE

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History Note

97

MeSH Hierarchy

Tree Number

  1. N02.421.450w

AMA Style

References

  1. National Library of Medicine. Medical Errors. Medical Subject Headings (MeSH). 2026. Unique ID D019300. http://id.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/2026/D019300
  2. Medical Errors. In: Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_error
  3. Medical Errors. In: Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q460433