Life today is unpredictable. It seems that disaster and misfortune are lurking around every corner. You should at least be able to take comfort in knowing that, if you do end up sick or injured, the U.S. healthcare system has your back. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. In fact, in some instances, after a trip to the hospital, your conditions could end up worsening, you could develop new health problems, you could find yourself drowning in debt, or, if you’re really unlucky, you won’t leave the hospital alive.
Medical Malpractice
Medical malpractice accounts for nearly 100,000 deaths each year in the United States, making up nearly 10% of the total annual deaths. You might think that the majority of medical mistakes would come from high-stress trauma situations where doctors are forced to make quick decisions, but the reality is that medical malpractice is often caused by much more careless and preventable mistakes.
The most common of these mistakes is misdiagnosis. This is when a doctor either misreads your charts and dismisses your concerns completely, gives you only a partial diagnosis, or gives you a diagnosis for one condition when you’re plagued by something else entirely. This is incredibly dangerous since your actual condition will be left untreated and can worsen, even to the point of death. This is also detrimental to your health if you are prescribed medications or treatments for a condition that you don’t have since some medications will not only be accompanied by horrible side effects but could end up worsening your condition. This can all be avoided if your doctor takes the time to look over the results of your tests thoroughly so they aren’t missing anything.
Another common cause of medical malpractice lawsuits is an error during surgery. This includes anything from a doctor accidentally knicking vital organs with a scalpel during the procedure to miscalculating the amount of anesthesia needed, or even a patient’s development of a bacterial infection post-op due to improper sterilization methods.
If you or a loved one experience any form of medical malpractice during your hospital visit, then it is crucial that you hire an experienced medical malpractice lawyer to help you build your case. A lawyer can help you build your case so that you get the financial compensation you are entitled to and will fight to make sure that no one else suffers due to your doctor’s negligence.
Drug Addiction
Drug abuse in the United States seems to continue to rise each year. In the past year alone, nearly 60 million people over the age of 12 have misused prescription drugs–this number makes up roughly 20% of the United States population. Thankfully, rehabilitation centers are becoming increasingly more common and less stigmatized, but the fact that treatment is more readily available is not doing enough to stop the issue. Doctors are not legally able to get financial kickbacks from writing prescriptions, but they can receive payments for promoting certain drugs, which does, in turn, make them more likely to prescribe them. If your doctor prescribes you painkillers after surgery of any size, consider your risk for addiction and whether or not its worth it to accept the prescription.
What You Can Do
The best way to keep yourself from becoming a victim of medical malpractice or being buried in debt from medical bills is to practice preventative healthcare. What this means is that you need to take better care of your body. Try to incorporate more nutrient-rich foods into your diet. If you’re having a salad for lunch then swap the lettuce for spinach or kale. Instead of a steak for dinner, have the salmon with a side of asparagus, and if you’re craving something sweet, then opt for dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate. If you make these easy switches, then your body will surely thank you.
Just as important to your health as your diet is your level of physical activity. Health professionals recommend that you get at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise every day to stay healthy. Moderate exercise focuses mainly on cardio, so you could grab a friend and go for a jog or a brisk walk around any of Springfield’s beautiful parks.
We learn in school the importance of nutrition and physical activity, but another big factor in your health is the amount of stress you face. Experiencing too much stress over a long period of time can put you at a greater risk for obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure. It’s important to find ways to manage stress, like taking up yoga and meditation or more creative hobbies like painting and journaling. What’s important is that you find something that you enjoy and that helps you unwind after a long day.
