Putting Our Knowledge And Experience To Work
Emergency Room Malpractice Attorney
Medical Malpractice Lawyers for ER and Urgent Care Negligence
Each year, Americans make more than 130 million visits to hospital emergency rooms, according to the National Center for Health Statistics (cdc.gov). That means nearly one-fifth of all Americans make at least one trip to an emergency room annually. When people visit the emergency room, it’s usually because they have no other option. They seek urgent care because they are suffering a serious, acute, and sometimes life-threatening injury or condition that requires immediate medical treatment. Unfortunately, sometimes this treatment does more to harm the patient than it does to heal them. When individuals receive negligent care that results in severe injury, further illness, or death, they have the right to seek compensation and justice through an emergency room medical malpractice claim.
At TLF: The Medical Injury Law Firm, our Cincinnati and Covington medical malpractice lawyers handle medical negligence claims on a daily basis, including those involving emergency medicine claims. We have decades of experience representing clients throughout Kentucky and Ohio and are prepared to help you, too. If you have experienced substandard care that has led to further injury or illness, or if a loved one has suffered or died because of urgent care or emergency room errors, we can help. Give us a call at (800) 698-4054 to schedule your free consultation today.
Emergency Room Negligence Lawyers in Kentucky and Ohio
In most all medical specialties, it is imperative that a medical professional both timely diagnose and timely treat a patient. However, this is especially true for emergency room doctors. Emergency medicine is typically reserved for the most serious cases, such as when a patient is in severe pain and/or suffering life-threatening injuries or illnesses. These are patients who cannot afford to wait to schedule an appointment with their primary care physician. As such, the average emergency room physician is under a lot of pressure to quickly see, assess, and treat the patient while delivering the appropriate standard of care.
When ER doctors deviate from that standard of care, mistakes happen. In some cases, these mistakes can be easily corrected and a patient suffers no real harm. In other, less fortunate cases, patients are left with worsened injuries and illnesses and sometimes, even worse. When this happens, the injured patients and/or their families may be able to file a medical malpractice claim against the responsible parties. At TLF: The Medical Injury Law Firm, our emergency room malpractice attorneys know the devastating consequences that medical errors like this can cause. We are here to help you determine if you have a claim for ER negligence and, if so, help you recover maximum compensation for the losses you’ve experienced as a result.
What is Emergency Room Negligence?
Emergency room doctors, like other doctors, are legally required to provide their patients with the appropriate standard of medical care. Of course, medical professionals in the emergency room setting tend to have more leeway than providers in a less hectic environment, but they are still responsible for providing the same or similar care that any other reasonable emergency room doctor would likely provide. Failure to do so would be considered emergency room negligence and can result in serious and even deadly medical errors.
Common Emergency Room Errors
There are many ways in which an emergency room error might occur, especially considering it is such a fast-paced environment. Unfortunately, ER patients are often released from the emergency room prematurely without being given the proper tests or correct diagnosis and treatment. This can be caused by lack of proper triage procedures, improperly trained staff, misinterpreted test results, inadequate staffing, poorly written policies and procedure, or failures in communication. Whatever the cause, the results can be catastrophic or fatal.
Common types of emergency room errors include:
- Misdiagnosis: Aside from the terrifying aspect of a misdiagnosis leading to death, misdiagnosing a patient can also result in their condition deteriorating, limit their ability to achieve proper treatment and recovery, and cause unnecessary mental distress.
- Failure to Diagnose: Failure to diagnose claims are different from misdiagnosis claims because these occur when a doctor does not make a diagnosis at all rather than making an incorrect one. However, failure to diagnose can prove as equally devastating as a misdiagnosis because a delayed or undiagnosed condition, such as the failure to diagnose cancer, can deprive the patient of early identification and potentially life-saving treatment.
- Surgical Errors: Even a seemingly minor surgical error can lead to serious injury, illness, complications, infections, or even wrongful death.
- Failure to Monitor: Doctors and nurses must closely monitor patients when certain risk factors are present. In a high-risk patient, failure to properly monitor can lead to things going south fast.
- Failure to Order Tests: When you describe your symptoms to an emergency room doctor, it is up to them to administer the proper tests to determine a diagnosis and treatment plan. When a doctor fails to order these tests (CT scan, MRI, bloodwork, etc.), they may be held liable for medical malpractice.
Other cases include those that arise when people without insurance are refused treatment and sent to another facility in violation of the law. When a person has a poor outcome from the delay caused by “patient dumping,” the first institution may be liable for the illness, injury, or death caused by its negligence.
Emergency Room Malpractice Injuries
Any number of injuries can be caused by the negligent actions (or inactions) of emergency room physicians. In many cases, a missed or delayed diagnosis can lead to the orginial condition worsening. If the injury or condition was misdiagnosed and treated for something other than what it was, this may lead to a more serious injury such as internal bleeding or brain damage.
At TLF: The Medical Injury Law Firm, our attorneys have helped clients who have been injured by negligent medical treatment in both the emergency room and urgent care setting, including failure to diagnose or treat the following conditions:
- Pulmonary embolism
- Aortic aneurysm
- Heart attack
- Ectopic pregnancy
- Pancreatitis
- Bacterial infection
- Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
- Meningitis
- Appendicitis
- Pneumonia
- Stroke
- Spinal cord injury
These conditions and many others require prompt diagnosis and treatment. Failure to do so may result in legal action against the negligent medical professional via a medical malpractice lawsuit.
Can I File a Malpractice Claim for Emergency Room Negligence?
If an emergency room or urgent care error resulted in an injury, illness, or death, you may be able to recover financial compensation for the harm caused. All doctors, including emergency room doctors, have a fiduciary obligation to the patients they treat. This obligation, or “duty of care,” is based on professional medical standards and refers to the level of care that any reasonable doctor must provide. If your ER doctor failed to provide the appropriate standard of care that another physician in similar circumstances likely would have provided, you may have a valid emergency room malpractice claim.
Unfortunately, it’s not nearly as easy as it sounds. Medical malpractice claims require a certain burden of proof, and certain elements must be present for a case to proceed. First, you and your legal team must prove a doctor-patient relationship existed. Next, the duty of care that your doctor owed to you or your loved one must be established. You must also prove that a breach of the duty of care existed and that the breach caused preventable harm, which then led to losses suffered by you or your family.
You have the best chance of securing a successful case outcome and financial damages for things like lost wages, medical bills, and pain and suffering when you obtain the help of an experienced medical malpractice attorney. When you obtain legal counsel from TLF: The Medical Injury Law Firm, you can rest assured knowing we will pursue maximum compensation on your behalf.
When Emergency Room Negligence Leads to Wrongful Death
In cases where the patient did not survive the emergency room malpractice, the surviving family members may choose to pursue a wrongful death claim on their behalf. Our Ohio and Kentucky wrongful death attorneys are dedicated to helping families who have suffered such significant losses resulting from a wrongful death. Our primary goal is to help these families recover compensation for the financial losses and pain that the decedent suffered at the hands of a negligent medical professional.
Do I Need an Emergency Room Malpractice Lawyer?
Medical malpractice cases are often extremely complex and require an extensive knowledge of both medical care standards and the laws in your state. As such, it is certainly not recommended that you pursue an ER malpractice claim without the help of an experienced team of medical malpractice lawyers on your side.
At TLF: The Medical Injury Law Firm, our attorneys have handled all kinds of medical malpractice claims in Kentucky and Ohio, including those resulting from mistakes made in emergency rooms. When you work with us, we will walk you through your legal options and make sure you stay informed and up-to-date throughout the entire process. We will investigate your treatment by obtaining medical records and deposing or interviewing witnesses all while our lawyers, in-house nurse/attorney, and wide network of expert physicians, nurses, and medical specialists work together to build the strongest possible case for you.
Cincinnati & Covington Emergency Room Malpractice Lawyers
The attorneys at TLF: The Medical Injury Law Firm have decades of experience handling medical malpractice claims, including those involving emergency room medicine claims. We know what it takes to prove a medical provider’s deviation from the appropriate standard of care, and we know how to fight for your right to just compensation, both inside and outside a court of law.
If you think you may have a case for ER malpractice, call our Cincinnati and Covington injury attorneys at (800) 698-4054 or complete our online intake form to schedule a free consultation today. As soon as an attorney-client relationship is established, we will get straight to work building your case, protecting your rights, and fighting to help you obtain the compensation you deserve.
In addition to emergency room malpractice claims, our attorneys are also equipped to handle a number of similar practice areas, including Ohio and Kentucky birth injury claims, pediatric malpractice claims, motor vehicle accident claims, and more. Call us today to see how we can help you get things back on track after a devastating accident caused by someone else’s negligence.
Practice Areas
You Pay No Fees Unless We Win!
We are happy to offer a free consultation to evaluate your case. If you hire us as your legal counsel, we will represent you on a contingency-fee basis. You will pay no attorneys’ fees unless we recover financial damages.