Any condition caused by the actions of doctors or other healthcare professionals.
Any injury or illness that occurs as a result of medical care. Some examples: chemotherapy used to treat cancer may cause nausea, vomiting, hair loss, or depressed white blood cell counts. The use of a Foley catheter for incontinence can create a urinary tract infection and urinary sepsis. A guiding principle of health care is to do little harm to patients while effecting cures — but this ideal is not always achieved. In the U.S., deaths that result from health care errors and complications of treatment are among the most common causes of mortality.