When Medical Care Causes Harm

Iatrogenesis describes harm caused not by a disease, but by the medical system itself. This includes everything from dangerous drug interactions to the anxiety caused by a doctor’s diagnosis.

The term covers situations where treatment, errors, or even simple over-diagnosis worsen a patient's condition. It is a sobering reality that the very systems meant to heal can sometimes be a source of injury. With millions of negative treatment events occurring globally each year, it highlights how complex modern medicine has become. Sometimes, the most significant risk to a patient is simply being inside the healthcare system.