According to the Auckland University School of Population health lecturers Mary Seddon and Alan Merry there is a sudden increase in the number of patients who were victims of preventable medical errors.

The article that was published in the New Zealand Medical Journal mainly focused on how careless attitudes of the medical professionals led to an unacceptable number of patients suffering adverse events. Statistics show that more than 1500 people were killed or permanently disabled every year through preventable medical error. It is mostly the patients in the acute-care hospitals who are the victims of these adverse events. Dr Seddon said that these errors are the main cause of death of the elderly or very sick patients who were admitted in the hospital.

Medical errors are considered as a substantial health crisis in New Zealand. Australia has the highest figures when compared to other western countries. About 16.6 % of patients were experiencing medical error and 2.3 % killed or disabled due to medical errors. Denmark had the lowest rates, at 9 % and 0.4 % respectively. The article explained that these adverse events cannot be completely eliminated as it is human tendency to err but can be substantially reduced by improving the design of New Zealand's healthcare system.