Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Personal Injury Law Blogs -> Northern Virginia Personal Injury Lawyer

Personal Injury Law

: Northern Virginia Personal Injury Lawyer

Medical Malpractice in the Emergency Room

By Ben Glass

<p>Nearly everyone has an unpleasant experience from the emergency room they could tell you about. Whether they sat in a waiting room for hours, had a physician perform a cursory evaluation, or just had a generally miserable experience, many people don't want to go back after just one ER visit.<br /> <br /> The majority of us have left the ER upset, but relatively unscathed, but there are many people each year who fall victim to medical malpractice in the emergency room.<br /> <br /> Here are some common questions regarding emergency room medical malpractice to aid in determining if you were a victim and have a right to file suit.<br /> <br /> <strong>What is emergency room medical malpractice?</strong><br /> Emergency room medical malpractice occurs when the employees of the ER are negligent in their responsibilities to patients. The definition of negligence is acting in a manner or making decisions that do not keep with the standards of others in one's profession.<br /> <br /> <strong>Who can be guilty of emergency room medical malpractice?</strong><br /> Any ER employee is capable of being found negligent in their duties, including front desk workers, physicians, surgeons, EMTs, and/or paramedics.<br /> <br /> <strong>How do emergency room errors occur?</strong><br /> Typically, emergency rooms are overcrowded, understaffed, and full of overworked and sleep deprived employees. This deadly combination of factors can easily lead to premature discharges and ER errors, including misdiagnosis, delayed diagnosis, or failure to diagnose.<br /> <br /> <strong>What emergency room errors can cause ER medical malpractice?</strong><br /> Other than diagnostic errors, typical emergency room errors include surgical mistakes, paramedic and EMT negligence, anesthesia malpractice, failure to recognize internal organ trauma, use of contaminated blood in blood transfusions, failure to recognize a patient with suicidal tendencies, failure to order or properly perform necessary tests, and/or failure to administer or properly administer medication.<br /> <strong><br /> What injuries can be sustained from an emergency room error?</strong><br /> The most tragic outcome of ER error is wrongful death, but other common injuries include heart attack, stroke, brain aneurysm, appendicitis, and/or internal bleeding or hemorrhaging.<br /> <br /> <strong>How long do patients in need of care wait?</strong><br /> A recent Harvard Medical Institute study revealed that a patient suffering a heart attack had an average wait time of eight minutes in 1997, and 22 minutes in 2006.<br /> <br /> <strong>What financial compensation am I entitled to?</strong><br /> If you have suffered from ER medical malpractice, you could be entitled to compensation for past and present medical expenses, lost wages, diminished earning capacity, and/or punitive damages.</p><a href="http://northernvirginia.injuryboard.com/medical-malpractice/medical-malpractice-in-the-emergency-room.aspx?googleid=261442">Originally posted</a> at <a href="http://www.InjuryBoard.com">InjuryBoard</a> by <a href="http://www.injuryboard.com/Ben-Glass/">Ben Glass</a>

Full post as published by Northern Virginia Personal Injury Lawyer on May 16, 2009 (boomark / email).