The Elephant in the Brain: Hidden Motives in Everyday Life

by Kevin Simler

One of the simplest reasons is the prevalence and high cost of medical errors, which are estimated to cause between 44,000 and 98,000 deaths in the United States every year.49 As Alex Tabarrok puts it, “More people die from medical mistakes each year than from highway accidents, breast cancer, or AIDS and yet physicians still resist and the public does not demand even simple reforms.”50 Such simple reforms might include •Regulating catheter use. Studies have found that death rates plummet when doctors are required to consistently follow a simple five-step checklist.51 •Requiring autopsies. Around 40 percent of autopsies reveal the original cause-of-death diagnosis to have been incorrect.52 But autopsy rates are way down, from a high of 50 percent in the 1950s to a current rate of about 5 percent.53 •Getting doctors to wash their hands consistently. Compliance for best handwashing practices hovers around 40 percent.54 Some of these problems are downright scandalous, and yet, as Tabarrok points out, they’re largely ignored by the general public. We’d rather not look our medical gift horse in the mouth.