Medical errors are a significant problem in the health care industry. Anything can go wrong during a routine checkup or complex procedure, from miscalculations to misdiagnoses. A recent study found that medical errors are the third leading cause of death in the...
There are some health conditions that the immune system can shake off, but these are usually very minor. For more severe and complex ailments, you are going to have to rely on medical intervention. Doctors train for many years before they are permitted to practice....
The term “retained foreign bodies” (RFBs) is the medical way of describing items left behind unintentionally when a patient undergoes surgery. Surgical staff typically need to account for every item used during surgery, including gauze and clamps. RFBs could cause...
It is estimated that someone has a stroke every 40 seconds, and almost 800,000 people experience this yearly. Unfortunately, not all cases of strokes are diagnosed properly. In fact, misdiagnosis of strokes leads to 40,000 to 80,000 preventable deaths in the U.S....
Your expectations are probably high when you go to the hospital for a scheduled surgery or emergency procedure. Medical staff are expected to uphold a high level of care to ensure mistakes and injuries don’t occur. Unfortunately, these things still happen. Surgical...
Anesthesia is one of the best scientific breakthroughs in medicine. That said, it’s not without its flaws. About 17,116 patients suffered from anesthesia errors between the years 2007 and 2014. Though the error risk is small, complications and errors due to...
There are several reasons you may need medical services. You may be involved in an accident, break a bone in a freak skiing accident or become ill. In any situation, you rely on the competency of medical professionals to provide the care you need. Not only do you...
You expect your doctor to listen to you. You communicate your experiences, symptoms, and concerns in a doctor's exam room. The doctor listens and examines to determine any validity of underlying medical issues. What happens, though, when you struggle with...
When you check in at the hospital for treatment, you trust that the healthcare professionals who will attend to you are qualified, duly licensed to practice and capable of giving you the care you deserve. And more often than not, they are. However, if a healthcare...
Doctors may think they know what’s best for us, and when it comes to medical treatment, they should. However, as patients, we still have the right to decide how an injury, illness or other medical condition will be treated and to make those decisions for our children...