Emergency Room Negligence

Many people visit emergency rooms everyday to seek care for their medical needs. Like all medical facilities, emergency rooms have standards to follow in order to provide sufficient care to patients, though emergency rooms face issues that other medical facilities do not. For example, emergency rooms are hectic and doctors only have a short amount of time to focus on each patient, meaning treatments may be rushed and medical records may not be reviewed appropriately. Neglecting patients may result in misdiagnosis, wrongful treatment, injury or errors in administering medications. If injury to a patient is caused by negligence, the medical provider or medical facility may be held liable. When any member of the emergency room staff acts in a negligent manner, injured patients may be able to pursue financial compensation for resulting harm caused to them.

In such cases, victims may sustain a claim for medical malpractice if they can prove the following elements;

• Doctor-patient relationship
• Negligence
• Harm

Proving a doctor-patient relationship existed is typically the simplest part, as the hospital should posses records of patient visits and the physicians that cared for them. Negligence of physicians is measured by the quality of care provided to the patient. This element is more difficult to establish because the standard of care expected in emergency rooms is typically different from the standard of care required by doctors working in a less hectic environment. Also, victims must prove that they suffered some type of harm due to negligent actions. Harm may include additional treatment or surgeries, corrective treatment, lost wages and pain and suffering.

People visit emergency rooms to seek treatment, but unfortunately doctor errors can cause greater harm. If you or someone you know has been injured due to emergency room negligence, contact Darfoor Law Firm at 1-833-DARFOOR for a free consultation.