new evidence

Study: Hospitals misidentify cause of death up to 23 percent of the time

Autopsies continue to detect clinically important diagnostic discrepancies, according to a new evidence report released today by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Based on an analysis of more than 50 studies spanning 40 years, researchers estimate that, in U.S. hospitals in the year 2000, the correct cause of death escaped clinical detection in between 8 percent and 23 percent of cases, with as many as 4 percent to 8 percent of all deaths having a diagnostic discrepancy that may have harmed the patient. In addition to clinically missed diagnoses, up to 5 percent of autopsies disclosed clinically unsuspected complications of care.

Slowest-evolving species gains upper hand

When members of two species compete directly with each other, scientists believe the one that rolls with the evolutionary punches and adapts most quickly has the upper hand. But new evidence suggests that in relationships that benefit both species, the one that evolves more slowly has the advantage. “The idea that has been dominant for the last couple of decades is that when two species co-evolve, they try to outrun each other,” said Carl Bergstrom, a University of Washington assistant zoology professor. But that doesn?t necessarily hold true for individuals of different species engaged in a mutualistic, or symbiotic, relationship. In such cases, he said, the one that evolves more slowly is likely to gain a disproportionate share of benefits from the relationship.