Emergency Room Mistakes – When Does It Lead To Malpractice?

When you have to go to the emergency room, chances are you are in need of immediate medical care. Emergency rooms tend to be high-pressure environments for everybody, including doctors and nurses. Unfortunately, there are times when mistakes are made in the ER, and these mistakes can have serious consequences for patients. At The Weitz Firm, LLC, our Philadelphia emergency room malpractice attorneys want to discuss what constitutes medical malpractice in the ER and what you can do if you believe you have been the victim of malpractice.

What constitutes emergency room malpractice?

Emergency rooms can be incredibly chaotic, and working as a physician or nurse in the ER is one of the most challenging positions in medicine. With that in mind, it is important to point out that not every mistake made in the ER will constitute medical malpractice. In fact, medical professionals in the ER may be afforded a bit more leeway than doctors who have the luxury of time to formulate a diagnosis and a proper course of treatment for a patient. However, this leeway is going to be limited, and emergency room medical professionals can still be held liable if their patient is harmed as a result of sub-standard care.

In order for a medical malpractice case to be successful based on errors that occur in the emergency room, a patient (and their attorney) will need to prove a few basic elements of medical malpractice:

• There must have been a doctor-patient relationship established. This occurs as soon as a doctor examines a patient or provides treatment in the ER.
• There must have been some sort of ER treatment that involved negligence. A doctor acts negligently if they fail to provide a quality of care that another reasonably competent doctor would have provided under similar circumstances. In these cases, we will be looking for a breach of the standard of care by the physician or other medical professional.
• There must be some sort of harm caused by negligence. Not every medical mistake leads to a patient sustaining an injury or harm, though a patient can take many forms, including the following:
  • Physical and emotional pain and suffering
  • The costs of additional care as a result of corrective treatment
  • Loss of earning capacity of the patient
  • Loss of enjoyment of life

Contact an attorney for a free consultation of your case today

If you or somebody you care about has been harmed due to a medical error made in the emergency room, contact an attorney today. At The Weitz Firm, LLC, our competent and experienced team will conduct a free initial case evaluation so we can determine the best steps forward for your case. Our goal is to help medical malpractice victims secure the compensation they need, which can include coverage of their medical bills, lost wages if they cannot work, general household out-of-pocket expenses, pain and suffering damages, and more. When you need a Philadelphia emergency room malpractice attorney, you can contact us for a free consultation of your case by clicking here or calling 267-587-6240.