We would like to think that we would be provided quality care no matter what day of the week we entered the hospital, but a major study recently revealed that patients are "more likely to die" if hospitalized during the weekend.

The study was published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine and showed that patients who were admitted to a hospital on Sunday had a 16 percent greater chance of death than patients who were admitted in the middle of the week.

The study was performed in England; however, similar research in the United States showed increased mortality rates in patients who were admitted to hospitals on the weekends with certain conditions.

The researchers identified factors that could be contributing to this phenomenon such as reduced staffing and lack of access to diagnostic tests on weekends. Additionally, the researchers suggested that patients who are admitted during weekends may be in critical condition or they would have waited until a weekday to go in.

Tuesday through Friday hospital admissions were linked with the "lowest risk of in-hospital death," according to the study.

Whether it's a misdiagnosis, surgical error or other form of negligence, medical malpractice continues to be a problem in this country every day of the week. These medial mistakes can lead to serious injuries or even death.

Thankfully, victims and their families have the opportunity to pursue just compensation in medical malpractice lawsuits. While monetary compensation cannot heal the damage done, it can aid in paying for costs that resulted from the medical malpractice.

Source: Medical Daily, "Patients Are 'More Likely to Die' if Hospitalized During Weekends," Christine Hsu, Feb. 3, 2012