Emergency Room Malpractice – Staggering Statistics
You know the stress of an emergency room: long lines, overcrowded waiting rooms, a doctor trying to diagnose you with as much care as a McDonald’s cashier has for a customer during lunch rush. It’s no wonder then that an alarmingly high number of medical malpractice lawsuit cases result from emergency room errors.
Common Emergency Room Errors
Considering the frantic nature of emergency rooms, it’s not surprising that most emergency errors are failure to diagnose, delayed diagnosis or misdiagnosis (these account for over 50% of emergency room related malpractice suits).
In addition to these errors, which oftentimes lead to a heart attack and wrongful death suits, common mistakes in the emergency room are:
Common Injuries Resulting From Negligence
Just because patients are jammed like sardines in emergency rooms does not excuse negligence on the doctor’s behalf. Even with negligence during examinations aside, did you know that emergency rooms throughout the nation have an average wait time of over three hours?
Due to this, misdiagnoses, delayed diagnosis or failure to diagnose are rampant and can result in:
It’s terrible that many of these devastating afflictions could be prevented… if only the patient with chest pains wasn’t sent home prematurely only to suffer a heart attack in the car ride home, or that the sixteen year old complaining of stomach pains was ignored for so long as to have his appendix burst in the waiting room.
Do I Have A Case?
Even when evidence of negligence is overwhelming, proving liability against an emergency room is difficult. For a lawyer to even file a medical malpractice lawsuit, liability against an emergency room, there must be a preliminary finding of negligence at the hands of the hospital or its physicians.
However, with expert medical malpractice lawyers who have proven results, it’s possible for them to find a case for you even if you didn’t think you had one. If you or a loved one has suffered additional pain or loss due to an emergency room error and live in Atlanta, please contact Robbins & Associates, PC for your free consultation.
Common Emergency Room Errors
Considering the frantic nature of emergency rooms, it’s not surprising that most emergency errors are failure to diagnose, delayed diagnosis or misdiagnosis (these account for over 50% of emergency room related malpractice suits).
In addition to these errors, which oftentimes lead to a heart attack and wrongful death suits, common mistakes in the emergency room are:
- Anesthesia malpractice
- Failure to adequately and thoroughly test
- Failure to administer the proper medication
- Surgical errors
- Inattention or neglect by EMTs and paramedics
- Improper laboratory tests
- Contaminated blood transfusions
Common Injuries Resulting From Negligence
Just because patients are jammed like sardines in emergency rooms does not excuse negligence on the doctor’s behalf. Even with negligence during examinations aside, did you know that emergency rooms throughout the nation have an average wait time of over three hours?
Due to this, misdiagnoses, delayed diagnosis or failure to diagnose are rampant and can result in:
- Heart attack
- Improper triage
- Brain aneurysm
- Stroke
- Appendicitis
- Pulmonary embolism
It’s terrible that many of these devastating afflictions could be prevented… if only the patient with chest pains wasn’t sent home prematurely only to suffer a heart attack in the car ride home, or that the sixteen year old complaining of stomach pains was ignored for so long as to have his appendix burst in the waiting room.
Do I Have A Case?
Even when evidence of negligence is overwhelming, proving liability against an emergency room is difficult. For a lawyer to even file a medical malpractice lawsuit, liability against an emergency room, there must be a preliminary finding of negligence at the hands of the hospital or its physicians.
However, with expert medical malpractice lawyers who have proven results, it’s possible for them to find a case for you even if you didn’t think you had one. If you or a loved one has suffered additional pain or loss due to an emergency room error and live in Atlanta, please contact Robbins & Associates, PC for your free consultation.
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