225,000 people have died “iatrogenic deaths” in the past year. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), it’s the third largest cause of death in the United States. Iatrogenic. How’s that for a hundred-dollar word? It sounds important, but what does it even mean? Is it a rare tropical disease? A genetic mutation? No, iatrogenic actually refers to an inadvertent death caused by a doctor, or a hospital, or an incorrect or unnecessary medical procedure.
