One of the most important people in this world that you should be able to trust is your doctor--they often hold your life and well-being in their hands. Though doctors are held to a high standard, they are people too, and they can make mistakes, but they must be held accountable for any malpractice they commit.

What Is Medical Malpractice?

Medical malpractice occurs when a doctor, hospital, or healthcare provider causes injury to a patient through negligence or breaching the “standard of care.” To legally be considered medical malpractice, a case must consist of three elements:

Having a child is one of the most rewarding moments in the lives of many men and women. Bringing a baby into this world is supposed to be a joyous and happy time, yet out of every 1,000 infants born in the United States, six to eight of them are born with a birth injury. In our ever-innovating society, we have the tools and resources to deliver babies safely and successfully. However, due to reasons such as negligence, time restraints, or lack of communication, preventable birth injuries still occur in the United States.

Birth injuries can manifest themselves with a variety of symptoms, ranging from mild to severe, with many of them leaving lasting effects on your infant’s health. According to a new study, brachial plexus birth injury may affect your child’s mental health later in life.

What Is a Brachial Plexus Birth Injury?

When you receive medical treatment, you put a great deal of trust in your doctor. Unfortunately, there are far too many cases where individuals have been seriously injured or killed because of a misdiagnosis or other medical error by their doctors. To decrease the likelihood of medical malpractice, it is best to choose a doctor who will give you their undivided attention and listen to your questions and concerns.

How to Find the Right Doctor

Finding the doctor who will meet your specific needs can be very difficult. However, there are five basic criteria that a good doctor should meet:

Every year, millions of patients visit a doctor or hospital to receive medical treatment. Most of the time, they expect to have their issues taken care of, and they trust doctors and nurses to provide quality care. However, there are far too many cases in which medical procedures go wrong, and serious injury or death occurs as a result. When someone is injured due to the negligence of medical providers, they may be able to seek compensation for medical malpractice. 

What is Medical Malpractice?

Medical malpractice occurs when a hospital, doctor, or other healthcare professional causes injury or death to a patient, due to an error in diagnosis, treatment, health management, or aftercare. Medical negligence is responsible for the deaths of over 400,000 Americans every year, with these medical errors costing the country more than $19 billion. 

If you have ever been hospitalized for any reason, you probably know the feeling of homesickness that often develops quickly. Even a short hospital stay forces many to wonder how soon they can escape the antiseptic smell, checks by doctors and nurses and at all hours, and the often questionable food. In most cases, a patient must remain in the hospital under he or she is well enough to go home to a relatively non-controlled environment with no—or limited—professional supervision. Unfortunately, however, cost-cutting efforts and other factors have been blamed for the uptick in cases where patients are discharged from the hospital too soon. Early hospital discharge can put lives in danger and open the door to possible medical malpractice claims.

Creating a Plan

Deciding when to send a patient home can be challenging, but the doctor and the patient must work together in developing a discharge plan. The patient knows his or her body and, generally, has a good idea of his or her own limitations. The doctor will better know what symptoms need to be monitored as well as certain conditions that could develop once the patient leaves the hospital. If both the doctor and patient are comfortable with the decision to discharge and the patient fully understands the recommended course of follow-up treatment, it is probably fine for the patient to go home.