The chaotic nature of an emergency room can lead to life-altering errors when physicians, nurses, surgeons, or paramedics are neglectful in their responsibilities to patients. Emergency rooms are hotbeds for medical negligence because they’re often overcrowded, understaffed, and operate in a fast-paced environment. Emergency room negligence in Orlando can come in many forms, from an overwhelmed doctor to nursing staff without much experience.
Emergency room errors can mean the difference between life and death. If you or a loved one has suffered harm from a medical error while receiving emergency medical treatment, it’s important that you get in touch with a trustworthy personal injury attorney who can help you understand your options for pursuing compensation.
When you visit an emergency room, you have the right to demand the same high standard of care that you would anticipate from any doctor or healthcare professional. You should expect that the proper tests and imaging will be ordered, the appropriate medications will be administered, and the correct diagnosis will be provided. Patients must be able to trust their doctors with their health, especially in an emergency situation.
While medical professionals strive to provide quality care and service to their patients, it’s not uncommon for an error to lead to life-changing consequences for patients. In fact, data from Johns Hopkins suggests that medical errors cause an estimated 250,000 deaths per year in the United States. These are some of the most common emergency room mistakes:
Diagnostic error—a situation in which a medical professional offers an incorrect prognosis—occurs more frequently in the emergency department than in regular in-patient hospital care. When an emergency room doctor fails to act according to the proper standard of care by misdiagnosing a patient, they may be liable for medical malpractice.
Patients can be given the wrong medication mistakenly due to an error in communication or a misdiagnosis. Medication errors can result in serious injury or even death.
ER doctors and nurses are required to handle any medical situation that comes through their doors. This sometimes means they’re performing procedures with which they have little-to-no experience, which could result in harm to the patient.
Improper management is one of the most common types of emergency room errors and can refer to a wide breadth of issues, including improperly handling a patient’s chart, failing to obtain a patient’s medical history before making diagnostic or treatment decisions, not having the right equipment necessary to treat a patient, a lack of staffing, miscommunication among staff, delays in treatment, and improper documentation.
Federal law requires Medicare-approved hospitals to provide emergency medical treatment to anyone who needs it, even when they don’t have health insurance. If you’ve been denied treatment by a hospital or doctor, you have the right to sue the hospital for medical malpractice and seek compensation for your losses.
A medical malpractice lawsuit can stem from a doctor or nurse forgetting to wash their hands or disinfect the surfaces in the room. With immune systems already compromised in many hospital patients, it can become a serious health problem when there’s a lack of proper hygiene among healthcare workers.
Other common emergency room errors include delayed treatment, misreading or misinterpreting test findings, laboratory errors, failing to obtain a thorough medical history, and improperly transporting a patient.
If you’ve been injured or harmed due to the negligent actions of hospital staff, you have a cause of action against that hospital and therefore a right to sue them for compensation for any damages you’ve incurred as a result of those injuries. It’s important to keep in mind, as well, that emergency room errors may be the fault of multiple parties. While an individual nurse or doctor may have overseen the mistake, it may have occurred as a result of negligent emergency room policies and practices such as an inadequate staff-to-patient ratio.
To prove that a doctor or hospital staff was negligent, your Orlando ER malpractice attorney will need to gather and examine a variety of evidence including hospital records and statements from the individuals who were involved in your treatment. Your attorney will also consult other medical experts about the treatment you received.
When an emergency room error has caused you or a loved one harm, a medical malpractice attorney can help you explore liability and file an appropriate claim.
Malpractice is unfortunate but all too common in today’s healthcare system. If you believe you or a family member has been injured as a result of emergency room medical negligence, consider getting in touch with an experienced Orlando emergency room error attorney at The Umansky Law Firm. One of our skilled lawyers will fight to help you obtain the full and fair compensation you deserve so that you can recover all of the damages associated with your injury, including medical expenses, pain and suffering, and rehabilitation costs.
With over 100 years of combined legal experience, our team has the time and expertise to launch an investigation into your case and the circumstances leading up to the injury. We’ll work tirelessly to fight for your rights. Give us a call or complete our online contact form to receive a free consultation.
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