Emergency Room Mistakes

The most common examples of medical malpractice are misdiagnosis or failure to diagnose a medical condition.  Physicians, nurses, members of hospital staff, and any other individuals providing care to a patient may be guilty of medical malpractice when they do not follow protocol or deviate from the appropriate standard of care. Serious problems are missed in Emergency Rooms due to understaffing, communication problems, issues with patient charts, or because medical professionals are often overworked, in a hurry, distracted, tired, or have a huge backlog of patients waiting to receive treatment.

Examples of Emergency Room mistakes which may constitute negligence:

• Misdiagnosis or improper treatment of a heart attack or stroke resulting in permanent damage to the heart or brain and even wrongful death
• Misdiagnosis or improper treatment of a spinal cord injury resulting in permanent nerve damage and paralysis
• Failure to take proper precautions to prevent pulmonary embolism after emergency surgery
• Failure to take proper medical or surgical history resulting in serious or fatal medication errors

Rare medical conditions may not be easy to initially diagnose when a patient is seen in an Emergency Room. However, if a preventable medical error was made due to negligence, mistakes, or excessive wait time, please contact one of the experienced Board-certified trial attorneys at the law firm of Alley, Clark & Greiwe for a free consultation regarding your legal rights.