Health ministry of republic of moldova the university of medicine and pharmacy nicolae testemiţanu

Causes of iatrogenesis
include chance, medical error, negligence, 
social control and the adverse effects or interactions of prescription 
drugs. In the United States, an estimated 44,000 to 98,000 deaths per 
year may be attributed in some part to iatrogenesis.
Etymologically, the term "iatrogenesis" means "brought forth by a 
healer" (iatros means healer in Greek); as such, in its earlier forms, it 
could refer to good or bad effects. Literally meaning "physician-indu-
ced," the term 
iatrogenic 
describes diseases inadvertently resulting from 
medical treatments or procedures. 
Since at least the time of Hippocrates, people have recognized the 
potential damaging effects of a healer's actions. The old mandate "first 
do no harm" (primum non nocere) is an important clause of medical 
ethics, and iatrogenic illness or death caused purposefully, or by avoida-
ble error or negligence on the healer's part became a punishable offense 
in many civilizations. 
With the development of scientific medicine in the 20th century, it 
could be expected that iatrogenic illness or death would be more easily 
avoided. Antiseptics, anesthesia, antibiotics, and better surgical techni-
ques have been developed to decrease iatrogenic mortality. 
Examples of iatrogenesis imply: risk associated with medical inter-
ventions adverse effects of prescription drugs over-use of drugs, (cau-
sing - for example - antibiotic resistance in bacteria) prescription drug 
interaction, medical error, wrong prescription, perhaps due to illegible 
handwriting, typos on computer, negligence, faulty procedures, tech-
niques, information, methods, or equipment. 
An iatrogenesis can be caused by:

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Absence of confidential contact. 
–
Misses in speech of the doctor, it is especial at the first occu-
rring. 
–
The unreasonable use of medical terminology.
Iatrogenic conditions do not necessarily result from medical errors, 
such as mistakes made in surgery, or the prescription or dispensing of 
the wrong therapy, such as a drug. In fact, intrinsic and sometimes ad-
verse effects of a medical treatment are iatrogenic. For example, radia-
tion therapy and chemotherapy, due to the needed aggressiveness of the 
therapeutic agents, frequently produce iatrogenic effects such as hair 
loss, anemia, vomiting, nausea, brain damage, lymphedema, infertility, 
etc. The loss of functions resulting from the required removal of a disea-
sed organ also counts as iatrogenesis, thus we find (for example) iatro-
genic diabetes brought on by removal of all or part of the pancreas. 
Other situations may involve actual negligence or faulty procedu-
res, such as when pharmacotherapists produce handwritten prescriptions 
for drugs. 
A very common iatrogenic effect is caused by drug interaction, i.e., 
when pharmacotherapists fail to check for all medications a patient is ta-
king and prescribe new ones which interact agonistically or antagonisti-
cally (potentiate or decrease the intended therapeutic effect). Such situa-
tions can cause significant morbidity and mortality. Adverse reactions, 
such as allergic reactions to drugs, even when unexpected by pharmaco-
therapists, are also classified as iatrogenic. 
The evolution of antibiotic resistance in bacteria is iatrogenic as 
well. Bacteria strains resistant to antibiotics have evolved in response to 
the over prescription of antibiotic drugs. Certain drugs are toxic in their 
own right in therapeutic doses because of their mechanism of action.
In psychology, iatrogenesis can occur due to misdiagnosis. Condi-
tions hypothesized as partially or completely iatrogenic include bipolar 
disorder, dissociative identity disorder, fibromyalgia, somatoform disor-
der, chronic fatigue syndrome, posttraumatic stress disorder, substance 
abuse ,etc.. The degree of association of any particular condition with ia-
trogenesis is unclear and in some cases controversial. The over-diagno-
sis of psychological conditions (with the assignment of mental illness 
terminology) may relate primarily to clinician dependence on subjective 
criteria. The assignment of pathological nomenclature is rarely a benign 
process and can easily rise to the level of emotional iatrogenesis, espe-

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cially when no alternatives outside of the diagnostic naming process 
have been considered.