Excerpt: A report issued [August 6] by Public Citizen proposes 10 cost-cutting, patient safety measures that would save an estimated 85,000 lives and $35 billion a year. The report, 'Back to Basics,' analyzed the results of scientific studies of treatment protocols for chronically recurring, avoidable medical errors. In contrast to the high-tech tests and procedures that many experts blame for staggering increases in the nation's health care costs, most of the reforms in Public Citizen's report involve fundamentals as simple as practitioners consistently washing their hands, sufficiently tending to patients to prevent bed sores, and following simple safety checklists to prevent infections and complications stemming from operations. Aside from the tragedy of needless deaths and injuries, the financial toll of failing to follow accepted safety procedures is astounding.

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