If you can avoid it, do not be in the hospital over a weekend when the less trained and inexperienced staff are in charge. This warning to avoid medical errors by timing your visits to the hospital is particularly true over holiday weekends like July 4th. The reason is simple in my opinion . All medical staff with seniority get off on the weekends and holidays. This leaves fewer experienced personnel to run the hospital during these times.
The study’s researchers cautioned not to ignore the symptoms of a heart attack or stroke because they occur on the weekend. Time is still of the essence in getting treatment for those kinds of problems. However, if you have a choice, try to avoid being a statistic by going to the hospital for anything elective on the weekend. Researchers are not sure why the risk of death was increased with weekend in-patient admissions. However, as the old saying goes, the hospital is no place for a sick person. All kinds of risks are present in a hospital beyond those related to the treatment of the underlying condition. For example, the risk of infection is always present in the hospital setting. Slips and falls are also always a possibility and are especially dangerous for older persons.
Given that almost 100,000 people die from medical mistakes in hospitals each year in the U.S., you should do everything you can to increase your chances of avoiding being the victim of a medical error. That 100,000 deaths does not even include people who were just injured or made worse by hospital malpractice. If you think that you or a family member has been a victim of medical negligence, please contact a competent attorney who specializes in these kinds of cases.
Rick Shapiro has practiced personal injury law for over 30 years in Virginia, North Carolina, and throughout the Southeastern United States. He is a Board-Certified Civil Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy (ABA Accredited) and has litigated injury cases throughout the eastern United States, including wrongful death, trucking, faulty products, railroad, and medical negligence claims. During his three-decade career, Shapiro has won client appeals before the VA Supreme Court, VA Court of Appeals, NC Supreme Court, SC Supreme Court, WV Supreme Court, TN Supreme Court, and three times before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, underscoring Shapiro’s trial achievements. In addition, he and his law firm have won settlements/verdicts in excess of $100 million. His success in and out of the courtroom is a big reason why he was named 2019 “Lawyer of the Year” in railroad law in U.S. News & World Report's Best Lawyers publication (Norfolk, VA area), and he has been named a “Best Lawyer” and “Super Lawyer” by those peer-reviewed organizations for multiple years. Rick was also named a “Leader in the Law, Class of 2022” by Virginia Lawyers Weekly (total of 33 statewide honorees consisting of lawyers and judges across Virginia). And in September 2023, Rick was selected as a recipient of the National Board of Trial Advocacy (NBTA) 2023 President’s Award. Although many nominations were submitted from across the country, Rick was just one of eight attorneys chosen by the prestigious National Board which certifies civil trial attorneys across the U.S. Rick was also recently named to Virginia Lawyers Weekly 2024 Virginia’s Go To Lawyers Medical Malpractice. The attorneys awarded this honor are nominated by their colleagues and chosen by a panel from the publication.
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