University of Florida News

Emotions tend to run high in hospitals, and patients or patients' loved ones can be rude to medical professionals when they perceive inadequate care. But berating your child's doctor could have harmful -- even deadly -- consequences, according to new research. The findings by University of Florida management professor Amir Erez and doctoral student Trevor Foulk reinforce their prior research that rudeness has "devastating effects on medical performance," Erez said. A Johns Hopkins study estimated that more than 250,000 deaths are attributed to medical errors in the U.S. annually--which would rank as the third-leading cause of death in the U.S., according to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Some errors could be explained by a doctor's poor judgment due to a chronic lack of sleep.