Emergency Room Errors

Emergency rooms are necessarily high-paced environments where everything moves quickly. However, the need to be fast in treating an ailment should not come at the cost of disregarding proper medical protocols. If emergency rooms fail to adhere to reasonable standards, the resulting injuries to an already ill patient can be catastrophic. The medical malpractices at the Law Offices of Robert Dixon represent Miami residents who have been hurt or tragically lost a loved one as a result of a negligent error while visiting an emergency room. When patients seek medical treatment, they expect their health care providers to act in their best interest, and when these providers fail to do so, they should be held accountable for injuries and costs that arise.

A visit to the emergency room means you have probably already suffered a trauma. While most emergency rooms act appropriately and provide the care you seek, some fall below the proper standard of care, perhaps as a result of too many patients and not enough staff. Some common errors that occur in these situations include:

• Failing to recognize or ignoring signs of distress in a patient;
• Failing to diagnose symptoms properly, such as in a stroke or heart attack victim;
• Incorrect evaluations;
• Misdiagnoses;
• Medication errors; or
• Failing to communicate vital patient information to other staff.

These kinds of errors may lead to severe injuries, rapidly worsening a patient’s condition, or they may even be fatal. If you or a loved one has been injured due to an emergency room error, you may have legal recourse to recover damages in a medical malpractice claim.

To assert the right to compensation for injuries due to an error in an emergency room, you would need to show that a doctor or another staff member was negligent. This is established by proving there was a doctor-patient relationship between the victim and the defendant and showing that the doctor’s negligent treatment resulted in the patient’s injuries and damages.

Generally, complex medical evidence as well as expert testimony will be necessary to show that the doctor’s or staff member’s actions fell below the accepted standard of care. This is because the standard of care is specific to the professional context. A doctor may be found negligent if he or she has failed to provide the same level of care that a similarly qualified doctor in the same specialty and geographic area would have provided to a patient in the same situation. There also must be a causal link directly connecting a breach of this standard to the victim’s injuries.

Damages in medical malpractice cases often are substantial. Errors can create a need for additional procedures and treatment to correct the exacerbation of a condition. Compensation for future medical care and lost wages as well as pain and suffering may be available to a patient harmed by a careless doctor. If such an error results in the death of a loved one, moreover, the surviving relatives may pursue a wrongful death claim to reimburse them for costs like burial or funeral expenses. They also may seek compensation for losses related to their relationship to the victim, such as loss of consortium damages.

People in the Miami area who have been harmed by an emergency room error can consult the injury attorneys at the Law Offices of Robert Dixon. We can investigate the details of your case and help you explore your options. Our clients come from cities throughout South Florida, including Miami and elsewhere in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach Counties. Call 877.499.4878 or contact us online to schedule a free, no-obligation consultation to discuss your situation.