Psychiatric care is full of uncertain outcomes. However, there are times when the link between a hospital or physician’s inept or negligent action and a patient’s suicide seems painfully obvious. That’s what the family of an 18-year-old woman alleges regarding the young lady’s suicide just days after she voluntarily admitted herself to the psychiatric unit of a hospital in Akron.…

What’s your biggest worry when you’re sick enough to head to the hospital or take a troublesome symptom to your doctor? For many, it’s that they’ll be given some kind of terrible diagnosis. In reality, people should be worried that they won’t receive a proper diagnosis at all. Instead, they may be told their condition is nothing serious and be…

Unfortunately, not everyone leaves bullying behind after their high school years. This can be especially true in the health care industry. In fact, some experts say that on-the-job bullying is more prevalent in health care than any other field across the country. You and other Ohio residents should be aware of this, because if bullying is present among your medical team…

When a doctor misses a breast cancer diagnosis, it can prove fatal. Early detection and treatment, as with other types of cancer, is the key. Missing cancer in the early stages massively complicates the process and delays that treatment. Unfortunately, it happens more often than you may expect, and with a variety of different tests. For instance, one study looked…

Could personal biases lead a physician to neglect — or intentionally harm — some patients? Do some patients get better — or drastically worse — treatment than others because of their physician’s private politics or beliefs? That’s a possibility that has been brought sharply into focus by a recent incident in Ohio involving statements made by a medical professional while…

Technology has been improving and saving lives for generations, but technology also brings some unexpected hazards. In hospitals, technology can be a patient’s best friend — or worst nightmare. It’s estimated that 400,000 hospital patients a year die of utterly preventable problems, and technology plays a surprising role in many of those deaths. Often, the problems with technology can be…

Could mistakes in personal hygiene contribute to a deadly adenovirus outbreak in a medical facility near you and leave someone you love sicker than when they entered the hospital in the first place? Quite possibly. Despite the fact that few people have heard the term, adenoviruses are very common. They cause a variety of symptoms that are often mistaken for…

Medication errors are a common problem, whether you end up taking the wrong drug or too much of the right drug. Unfortunately, you can’t afford to relax your guard against medication errors even when you’re in the hospital. To guard against dangerous or fatal drug errors, take a proactive approach. The following suggestions can help you avoid many potential medication…

It’s difficult for a lot of people to speak up to a physician — even when they have a strong feeling that the doctor is making a mistake. Unfortunately, that’s the kind of issue that can prevent patients from challenging a bad diagnosis on a doctor’s part and lead to life-long consequences due to medical mistakes. For the most part,…

Most physicians and surgeons are highly professional — especially when a patient is under their care. However, one plastic surgeon seemed to think that dancing, singing and joking around about her patient’s bodies — on film, no less — during surgery was somehow acceptable. Then, to cap off the insulting behavior, she posted some of the videos to YouTube despite…