Columbia Emergency Room Errors Lawyer
Millions of Americans seek medical treatment in emergency room departments every year. In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are 130 million ER visits annually. The majority of these visits go as planned—the patient receives expert medical care and is released a few hours later, or is admitted to overnight care. Some emergency room visits, on the other hand, do not go as they should. Whether a nurse fails to administer the correct medication, or a physician misdiagnoses a heart attack, emergency room negligence threatens the life and well-being of that patient. If you were harmed during an emergency room visit due to a healthcare professional’s negligence, you may be able to recover your damages by filing a medical malpractice claim. The Columbia emergency room error lawyers at Simmons Law Firm help families in need of legal guidance and representation in and out of the courtroom.
The Six Most Common Types of Emergency Room Negligence
- Misdiagnosis—Misinterpreting a diagnostic test, failure to recognize signs and symptoms of a particular condition, or being treated by the wrong type of doctor for the condition you had are all types of misdiagnosis. Some injuries and illnesses are notoriously difficult to diagnose quickly. Others are not. Failure to misdiagnose your condition depends on the standard of care—a specific degree of prudence and caution for your condition, age, health, and the region in which you were treated.
- Failure to Perform Necessary Diagnostic Tests—There are dozens of types of tests that may be required to figure out what ailment you were suffering from. These include X-ray, CT scan, MRI, ultrasound, blood work, urine samples, and more. Failure to perform these tests can result in unnecessary and avoidable harm to the patient.
- Drug or Anesthesia Errors—One of the most dangerous types of emergency room negligence is giving the patient the wrong type of medication, or improperly sedating them with anesthetic drugs.
- Delayed Treatment—Triage errors (making a patient who needs life-saving treatment immediately but is forced to wait behind less urgent cases) are extremely dangerous. Many ER injuries and illnesses can wait to be treated, such as a lacerated finger, while other cases need to be treated at once, such as patients suffering from severe chest pain. Even if the patient is given proper treatment, it can do little good if the treatment is delayed.
- Failed Treatment—A doctor may quickly diagnose you correctly, yet still perform the wrong type of treatment, or perform the correct type of treatment poorly.
- Failure to Follow Up—After being discharged from an ER, the hospital is responsible for following up with treatment. Failure to do so can lead to avoidable complications, such as infection or an adverse drug reaction.
Contact an Anesthesia and Prescription Malpractice Attorney at Simmons Law Firm Today
We urge you to take immediate action, whether the incident took place more than a year ago, or it occurred recently, by reaching out to Simmons Law Firm. You can schedule a free consultation with one of our Columbia anesthesia and prescription malpractice attorneys by calling 803-779-4600 today.
