American Medical Association and PBS Both Join Pathology Profession in Publicizing Why Declining Autopsy Rates May Hurt Quality of Healthcare
Pathologists point out that autopsies consistently reveal doctors make a high rate of diagnostic errors—even with increasingly sophisticated imaging equipment
Pathologists and public health officials say the downward trend in autopsy rates is having far-reaching consequences for healthcare in the United States. The decline in the number of autopsies performed annually comes in spite of extensive literature documenting multiple benefits of the autopsy procedure.
No less an authority than the American Medical Association is calling attention to this situation. The AMA just published a story titled, “Declining Autopsy Rates Affect Medicine and Public Health,” to call attention to the fact that the rate of autopsies has fallen significantly. (more…)
