Medical professionals dedicate their entire lives to helping others live long and stay healthy. Unfortunately, being directly responsible for the health of community members sometimes means having to make incredibly difficult decisions.
When patients are put on life support, families and doctors hope the patient will recover and no longer need assistance breathing or functioning. However, what happens when family members and a health care provider disagree on the best treatment for a patient?
Individuals who seek care from doctors must ensure that they are taking steps to enhance their safety. Even though it is the medical professionals' duty to keep patients safe, taking these extra steps might be enough to prevent you from having to deal with gross medical issues caused by malpractice or negligence.
There are several things that you must remember as you are doing your due diligence to stay safe at the doctor's office. You can also use these tips at the hospital and anywhere else you might receive medical care.
The hospital where you receive treatment matters. If you’re facing a life-threatening emergency, you may think you lose the right to choose which hospital you go to. You may assume the paramedics are required to take you to whichever hospital is nearest.
That’s not necessarily the case. You’re allowed to tell the paramedics where to take you. Provided that they can take you there safely, and the hospital isn’t outside of any of their mandated zones, you can go to the hospital of your choosing.
As consumers in the American healthcare system, we trust our medical providers to keep us from harm. We also – perhaps less consciously – depend on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ensure that the drugs we receive are safe. When you pick up a prescription from the pharmacy, the process that went into creating that drug probably doesn’t even cross your mind.
However, not all drug manufacturing facilities are created equal. While many drug manufacturers are subject to strict federal regulation, others – known as compounding pharmacies – fly under the radar. Such facilities have created a public health concern for Americans.
Doctors use anesthesia to help make your operation — and recovery — as painless as possible. But a mistake in administering anesthesia can result in added pain and recovery time for you.
Here are three common anesthesia errors that can cause problems for patients:
A woman who is in labor in a birthing center or hospital needs fetal monitoring during the process. Some women don't mind doing this because it is a way they can ensure the baby is doing well. Others might not like having to be hooked up to machines.
Each facility has its own guidelines about what type of monitoring patients need, but these all must focus on the health of the mother and the baby. There are two primary schedules for monitoring – continuous or intermittent. Each is only appropriate for specific cases, so women must communicate with the labor and delivery team to determine which is necessary.
“It doesn’t matter how sick you are,” says Leah Binder. “The surgeon and operating room team shouldn’t be leaving sponges or surgical tools in you.”
We suspect that every one of our blog readers in Michigan and across the country agrees strongly with Binder’s view.
Welcome or not, well-intended people shower expectant moms with advice. Whether about proper nutrition, exercise, prenatal vitamins, weight gain or parenting classes, advice is generally not in short supply. But how many moms-to-be get information about the risks associated with labor and delivery? Women and their families must educate themselves about warning signs of potential maternal mortality.
Having a baby is supposed to be an exciting and life-changing experience. Sadly, American women are more likely to die during childbirth or from pregnancy-related complications than women in any other developed country. In other developed countries, the maternal death rate has been steadily decreasing since 2000. In the U.S., it has gone up.
When you think about having your baby and bringing home a new bundle of joy, you know you’ll be excited and probably a little nervous. But on top of all these emotions, it’s important to understand that you might also find yourself feeling depressed.
While many women suffer from the “baby blues” after giving birth, postpartum depression can be much more serious and long-lasting. Feeling overwhelmed, hopeless, irritable and sometimes even violent are all emotions that stem from depression.
Pregnancy is an exciting but also nerve-wracking time. Despite all the advances in modern medicine and the safety measures of hospitals today, there are still risks involved in childbirth, including doctor error.
One common cause for medical malpractice lawsuits related to childbirth is a brachial plexus injury.
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