Hospitals really can be deadlier in July, study shows

If you’ve made it halfway through July without being hospitalized, and avoided the ICU on a weekend, consider yourself lucky.

Two new studies suggest that there are certain times when it’s dangerous, even deadly, to seek hospital care, validating what doctors, nurses and other health care workers have said privately for years.

In one recent study, researchers from the University of California at San Diego found that fatal medication errors rose 10 percent in July in U.S. counties with teaching hospitals, giving credence to what’s long been known as the “July effect.”