Nearly every person in the United States will visit an emergency room at least once and every year, roughly 100 million patients visit the emergency room.
Nearly every person in the United States will visit an emergency room at least once and every year, roughly 100 million patients visit the emergency room.
According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), diagnostic errors make up 37% of emergency department errors and can cause additional injury when timely treatment is not provided to patients or when patients receive the wrong medication or treatment. 17% of these errors are improper performance of procedures, which can result in damage and injury to internal organs and bones.
Emergency Room Errors
Because of understaffing and overcrowding in emergency rooms in a large number of hospitals in the county today, there are bound to be errors and mistakes. Some of the most common types of emergency room errors include:
- Failure to recognize symptoms of stroke or heart attack
- Not recognizing or ignoring obvious signs of distress such as organ failure
- Misdiagnosis
- Delayed diagnosis
- Prescription errors
- Lack of adequate diagnostic testing
- Misreading of x-rays and other diagnostic tests
- Failure to recognize a high-priority health concern in triage
- Failure to maintain sanitary conditions
The emergency room is where patients go when they experience a major health issue that requires immediate medical attention. When you are treated in a negligent manner by the ER staff and it results in further injury, you can file a medical malpractice claim against the hospital, physician, or any other medical professional.
Complications Caused by Emergency Room Errors
Emergency room errors can cause a condition to become worse or lead to injuries and conditions that were not present earlier. Factors which were previously absent may include infection from an unnecessary surgery or improper medication. Patients may suffer permanent or temporary pain or disability, loss of quality of life, and they may also need further medical care after experiencing an emergency room error.
Emergency room errors can result in a number of conditions, such as the following:
- Blood poisoning, or sepsis
- Blood loss
- Infection
- Stroke
- Heart attack
- Scarring
- Physical disability
- Cognitive impairment
Emergency errors can have devastating consequences on a patient’s life and in some cases, may have fatal results.
Preventing Emergency Room Errors
Most emergency room errors can be prevented.
- Increasing the number of qualified medical professionals in ERs can help shorten the time patients have to wait for medical attention.
- The amount of time allotted to each patient can be increased with lower patient to staff ratios.
- Ensuring that there are more experienced staff members than inexperienced ones can help reduce incidents of emergency room errors.
A State of the Art Law Firm
If you or a loved one has been injured due to an emergency room error, you should immediately seek the help of a skilled and experienced medical malpractice attorney at Rosenberg, Minc, Falkoff,& Wolff of RMFW Law at 212-344-1000. We know how to win cases.
We know which direction your case should go. The first meeting is free. We have won many cases before and we know the legal system in these parts. You want us fighting for you.
