The diagnosis and treatment of patients with bronchial asthma (BA) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) by local physicians of one of the large administrative districts of Moscow were examined. Nine hundred and sixty outpatient's cards at 22 polyclinics were randomly checked up. There was a high percentage of diagnostic and therapeutic errors, the main reason for which was therapists' inadequate training in pulmonology. After implementing the intensive educational programs on BA and COPD for a year, a reexamination showed a considerable reduction in the number of medical errors.