Physician stress is costing Alberta's health-care system huge amounts of money and the lives of patients and doctors, say University of Calgary researchers.

Doctors overwhelmed by heavy case loads often neglect their own well-being and those impacts are too often passed on to their patients, said Dr. Jane Lemaire, co-author of a study published in the prestigious medical journal The Lancet.

"You're indoctrinated in medical school that your patient comes first and there's also public expectation the doctor is available all the time," said Lemaire, an internal medicine specialist who pored over 100 international studies on the issue to craft her team's report.

"There's very clear data that these doctors are less efficient, less productive and if the doctor is unwell, the patient will not listen to what they say."

Overworked physicians suffer from malnutrition, sleep deprivation and mental stress over negative patient outcomes, concludes the report.

Some of its literature says up to 75% of Canadian doctors suffer burnout. One British study revealed 2% of physicians interviewed admitted their exhaustion led to patient deaths.

"I have no reason to believe it would be any different here," she said. Fiscal costs are undoubtedly huge, said Lemaire, though the overall bill to Alberta isn't clear.