The IOM's new report titled, "To err is human,'' has found that medical errors are a huge problem. The report documented cases that have made big headlines, including the amputation of the wrong leg, a deadly chemotherapy overdose and a lethal drug mix-up during minor surgery. More subtle errors also appeared in the report such as a delayed diagnosis or testing that costs critical time in fighting disease.

Another startling fact that the report found was that medical mistakes rank as one of the leading causes of death and injury in America, and are killing more people each year than motor vehicle accidents, breast cancer or AIDS. After reviewing the report's results, the authors have recommended major changes to the nation's health care system as well as suggesting that there are certain precautions that patients can and should take to help reduce the medical mistakes.

Dr. Joseph Scherger, M.D., M.P.H., a member of the IOM's Committee on the Quality of Health Care in America and associate dean for clinical affairs at the University of California, Irvine, said, "Health care is hazardous enough. As a patient, you can't afford to be passive."

According to Scherger, there are a variety of ways for patients to protect themselves and become more active in their health care, including everything from questioning the doctor to requesting copies of reports.

Scherger suggests that the first step towards receiving better health care is to become more informed and ask questions. He believes it's important for patients to learn about the drugs that are prescribed to them. By asking questions about the medication, you're actually helping a nurse or doctor to double check them. Patients who are unable to ask questions for themselves because they are sedated, unconscious or elderly, should always have someone with them to do the talking.

When it comes to lab work, Scherger suggests that a patient always should request a copy of the report and review it in detail with the physician.

Now, how can you avoid cases like having the wrong leg amputated? Before having surgery, Scherger stresses that you should make sure the surgeon or anesthesiologist visits beforehand to mark the area that is to be amputated or operated on.

Doctors' poor handwriting was another major cause of medical errors mentioned in the IOM report. It was found that many times pharmacists couldn't read the correct dose or the name of the prescribed drug because of the doctor's poor handwriting. This being the case, Scherger recommends patients find out if a doctor's office or hospital has electronic medical records or an electronic order entry versus handwritten systems.

"We need to put an end to doctors' handwriting prescriptions for drugs and procedures,'' Scherger says. "It should be done by electronic entry.''