Risks Involved in a Premature Birth

Most babies are born between the 37th and 40th week of pregnancy. This is considered full-term. Babies who are born a few weeks early generally don't suffer problems. However, that risk changes the earlier the baby is delivered.

The more premature the baby is, the more complications there can be. This is why if premature labor can be avoided, it should. A premature baby can suffer serious problems, including death.

Early prenatal care can help prevent a premature birth. However, if there was any negligence of the doctor or another healthcare provider, they could potentially be held liable.

When Can Patients Sue a Hospital for Negligence?

When can you sue the hospital or its employees for negligence?

A hospital can be sued for negligence for mistakes that harm or kill a patient. When an employee of the hospital is guilty of negligence, you can sue the hospital. When a doctor working for a hospital makes a mistake, both the doctor personally and the hospital as a whole can be sued. However, doctors can only be sued if they were present and could have prevented the negligence. You cannot sue every doctor in the Emergency Room or surgical floor, only the one who administered or oversaw your treatment. Hospitals can also be sued when a doctor with a history of negligence and medical mistakes was kept on the payroll, thus enabling them to continue harming patients.

What constitutes neglect?

Cosmetic Surgery Negligence: What to Do

Cosmetic surgery is becoming more and more popular around the world. Taken by choice and not necessity (unless the surgery helps to correct vision or breathing), people who undergo cosmetic surgery often do so to improve physical appearance, to help improve self-confidence and self-esteem. Cosmetic surgery is common to help change the appearance for sufferers of disfiguration due to diseases like cerebral palsy, though with ever increasing social pressure due to the massive influence of media and the pursuit of physical perfection, many more people are choosing cosmetic surgery, who otherwise would have not previously.

Like all surgery, this type surgery comes with an associated level of risk. The risks associated with infection, tissue loss, and bleeding are always present, and it is known that while even small and simple procedures have resulted in negative consequences, the longer and more complex the procedure is, the higher the risk will be. Popular options such as facelifts, breast augmentation, brow lifts, liposuction and eyelid surgery are examples of this.

Things You Should Know About Plastic Surgery Malpractice

For the most part, most plastic surgeries are fairly low risk, and pose little threat for side effects and complications. That being said, no type of surgery is absolutely free of risk, and these elective procedures are no exception to this rule.

Plastic surgeons are skilled medical professionals and have a high level of training to treat their patients in a variety of ways. When this level of care is not carried out in the proper manner, or if the surgeon performs a procedure he or she is not qualified to perform, a form of medical malpractice may have occurred.

There are many different legal obligations plastic surgeons are held to, and they must practice in a manner that protects patients from bad procedures and unqualified physicians. When a plastic surgeon provides care to a patient, he or she is promising they have the proper level of education, training, and skills needed to conduct the procedure correctly and safely.

What Is Medical Negligence?

Doctors, nurses, hospitals, and other medical professionals are all held to certain standards when administering care to patients. However, sometimes medical personnel may not pay enough attention to a patient when administering drugs, performing surgery, or providing care in other settings. This is called medical negligence or malpractice, and people are able to file a claim against members of the medical staff or hospital if they believe that they are a victim of medical malpractice. Medical malpractice comes in many different forms. If you believe you or a family member is a victim, consider the following situations in which medical negligence is often considered for compensation.

Improper diagnosis is often associated with medical negligence. This is because it can cause the patient severe harm if someone administers the wrong drugs to them, and it can delay the treatment that they would have otherwise received. 

How to Spot Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect

Quite often, when a loved one is no longer able to care for themselves, the only viable option available to the family is to place them in a nursing home. However, once the transition has been made to a nursing facility, how do you know if your loved one is being properly cared for? What do you do if you suspect your loved one is suffering from abuse or neglect at the hands of the doctors, nurses or other staff members at the nursing home? As a family member it is important to know some common signs of abuse and neglect that may occur in a nursing home.

Bedsores - According to the Mayo Clinic "...bedsores are injuries to skin and underlying tissue that result from prolonged pressure on the skin." Bedsores are most often associated with patients who are confined to a bed, but they can also develop on the heels, ankles, hips or buttocks of people who have restricted mobility, such as patients confined to a wheelchair. 

Are Shoulder Pain Pumps Causing Cartilage Breakdown?

These injections administer pain medication directly to the affected area. While the idea may seem sound in theory, in practice, these pumps have actually shown to cause further damage to the shoulder. Defective products have even caused cartilage breakdown, leading to an increase in medical malpractice cases related to these injections.

Postarthroscopic glenohumeral chondrolysis (PAGCL) refers to a condition in which complete cartilage breakdown in the shoulder causes the bones to contact each other at the joint. Without cartilage to separate them, the bones rub together with every shoulder movement. Ironically, treatment intended to minimize pain can actually lead to a condition that is far more painful than the original shoulder injury.

The issue has been studied by several major medical organizations, including the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, but the U. S. Food and Drug Administration reports that while the connection between this intense post-surgery pain and shoulder pain pump injections is quite clear, the reason for the cartilage breakdown has yet to be discovered.

Cosmetic Surgery Negligence: Your Rights

Any person who has suffered any kind of damage, scarring or other problems due to medical negligence during cosmetic surgery has a right to claim compensation for cosmetic surgery negligence.

A person who chooses a surgeon puts an enormous amount of trust in the surgeon's ability to treat them well. However, with the boom in cosmetic surgery, many clinics have doctors and nurses who are not properly qualified, or who are negligent in the treatment of their patients. Once the patient is under the surgeon's counsel, it is the legal responsibility of the surgeon to care for him or her, following the right medical practices and rules.

The Patient's Rights

Medical Accidents Happen - What Can You Do?

To err is human. Random accidents and mistakes are very much a part of life just that it is quite difficult to come to terms with them especially on the medical front. Doctors and other healthcare or medical professionals are expected to be examples of perfection, offering only the very best of their services to patients; however, they too are prone to making mistakes. Patients and their families often do not even realise the mistake or notice the lack of service or adequate advice, until the consequences begin to manifest. Impact of gross medical negligence usually is instantaneous with dire results.

Anyone affected by medical negligence should first assess the situation to decide how they would like to handle the matter. Most people simply look for an explanation, a reason, or probably a simple apology to help them cope with the sudden loss of a loved one or other less severe consequences. 

Medicare As a Business Partner

If you were in business, and you had a contract with a major company that was responsible for 9-12% of your business, and that business sent you a letter saying they would be decreasing the amount of money they currently paid to you by about 30%, what would you say to this company? Imagine for a moment that you and this company had been in business together since 1965. Imagine, also, that over the years, the company had slowly and methodically begun decreasing their payment for your goods and services over the last decade; 2-3% one year, 5% another. Throughout the past generation you had already absorbed a 10% decrease in how much this company would pay for your services. At first, you were hesitant to let the company go, as they accounted for about one third of your business. You pondered the past, recalling the years of doing business together. Yet, you were quickly reminded how this company had changed drastically since its doors opened in 1965. You remembered the ease with which you initially had conducted business with this company, but how this had become more and more difficult with each passing year. 

MRSA: Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a strain of staph bacteria. However, even though most types of bacteria are able to be treated by antibiotics, this type of bacteria does is resistant. Just because staph bacteria is present in someone's body does not mean that they have MRSA. In fact, about one out of every four people are said to be colonized by staph, meaning that the bacteria is present on their skin. What may cause the person to become ill infected when the bacteria enters into the body. This could be from sores and cuts, or through hospital equipment such as breathing tubes and catheters. Some types of staff infections are very minor and may appear as a pimple. However, in some victims, their heart, blood, or other organs may become infected.

The difference between a serious case of staph infection or a minor case can depend on the person's immune system.