The list of the most costly errors from a study conducted by Millman, Inc. on behalf of the Society of Actuaries (SOA) is as follows:

1. Pressure ulcers—374,964 errors, $10,288 per error and $3.858 billion total.
2. Postoperative infections—252,695 errors, $14,548 per error, $3.676 billion total.
3. Mechanical complication of a device, implant or graft—60,380 errors, $18,771 per error, $1.133 billion total.
4. Postlaminectomy syndrome—113,823 errors, $9,863 per error, $1.123 billion total.
5. Hemorrhage complicating a procedure—78,216 errors, $12,272 per error, $960 million total.
6. Infection following infusion, injection, transfusion, vaccination—8,855 errors, $78,083 per error, $691 million total.
7. Pneumothorax—25,559 errors, $24,132 per error, $617 million total.
8. Infection due to central venous catheter—7,062 errors, $83,365 per error, $589 million total.
9. Other complicaitons of internal (biological) (synthetic) prosthetic device, implant and graft—26,783 errors, $17,233 per error and $462 million total.
10. Ventral hernia without mention of obstruction or gangrene—53,810 errors, $8,178 per error and $440 million total.

Most frequent errors are in order:

1. pressure ulcer,
   
2. postoperative infection,
   
3. postlaminectomy syndrome,
   
4. hemorrhage complicating a procedure,
5. accidental puncture or laceration during a procedure,
6. mechanical complication of device, implant or graft,
   
7. ventral hernia without mention of obstruction or gangrene,
8. hematoma complicating a procedure,
   
9. unspecified adverse effect of a drug medicinal and biological substance not elsewhere classified
   
10. mechanical complication of cardiac device, implant or graft.

Resources

Ashamed To Admit It: Owning Up To Medical Error a first person reflection on a past error