Illinois Emergency Room Errors and Malpractice
Medical emergencies can be frightening and stressful to deal with. When you visit the Emergency Room (ER), you trust that the healthcare professionals there will take care of you in the best way possible. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case. Negligent healthcare professionals can sometimes make your medical condition worse instead of better. Their errors may even result in wrongful death. When this happens, contact Lerner and Rowe’s medical malpractice team.
What is an Emergency Room Error?
An emergency room error occurs when a doctor, nurse, healthcare professional, staff member, or other person makes a mistake while caring for a patient in the ER. Emergency room errors come in many forms and have various causes. Here are some common emergency room errors to look out for:
- Failure to Document – Inadequate record keeping means that doctors and other healthcare professionals make decisions without being fully informed. This could have devastating consequences for the patient.
- Laboratory Mistakes – Writing incorrect lab results or interpreting the results in an incorrect way can lead to medical complications for the patient. A chain of decisions branches off from the test results, so if the results are faulty, everything that follows will be incorrect, too.
- Delayed Diagnosis/Treatment – If a patient isn’t diagnosed or treated quickly enough, their condition could progress to a point of no return. Sometimes, they may receive no diagnosis or treatment and all and may even suffer wrongful death.
- Medication Errors – A healthcare professional may prescribe or administer medication in an incorrect way. For instance, a patient may receive the wrong dosage of medication, or they may have their medication injected into a muscle instead of a vein. Medication errors may lead to serious complications, and some may even be fatal.
- Improper Procedure Performance – Doctors may perform procedures in an improper way. For instance, they may perform surgery on the wrong part of the body or even on the wrong patient. Needless to say, this causes serious medical problems.
This list is not exhaustive, and there are many other instances of emergency room errors. The important thing to remember, though, is that all instances of emergency room errors have some things in common: a medical relationship, negligence, and harm. These things constitute emergency room errors and medical malpractice in general.
What Is Medical Malpractice?
Emergency room errors are only one subset of medical malpractice. Medical malpractice occurs when a healthcare professional acts negligently and ends up harming a patient. As mentioned before, there are three things needed to constitute medical malpractice: a medical relationship, negligent behavior, and resultant harm.
- Medical Relationship – A healthcare professional must have been caring for you at the time the negligent behavior/your malpractice injury occurred. Medical records, medication receipts, and other documents can help substantiate such a relationship.
- Negligent Behavior – The healthcare professional must have acted in a manner that was below the reasonable standard of care. This means they should have used more care and prudence when caring for you. Other healthcare professionals will usually testify to establish whether the responsible party acted negligently.
- Resultant Harm – Because of their negligence, the healthcare professional ended up hurting you. Had it not been for their negligent behavior, you would not have suffered your malpractice injury.
What Can Be Done?
You suffered an emergency room injury. What now? First, don’t lose hope; there are some things you can do to increase your chances of recovery and compensation.
- Seek Medical Help – If you suffered an emergency room injury, seek medical attention right away. Your safety comes above all else!
- Remember/Gather Evidence – Try to remember important dates and times, and gather as many medical documents as you can. The more evidence you collect, the easier it will be to piece together the malpractice puzzle and find where the error occurred. Additionally, remember if a healthcare professional did anything you thought was suspicious.
- Contact Legal Guidance – Get in touch with Lerner and Rowe’s medical malpractice team. Our professional attorneys will work hard for the compensation you deserve.
- Focus on Recovery – Concentrate your energy on getting well again. Take the time you need to rest and recover. Again, your health is your top priority. Let experienced lawyers look after your legal case while you handle your health.
Suffer an Illinois Emergency Room Malpractice Injury?
If you suffered an Illinois emergency room malpractice injury, contact Lerner and Rowe Injury Attorneys right away. Our well-equipped malpractice team knows the ins and outs of medical malpractice law and will relentlessly pursue your just compensation.
Get in touch with us during our office hours, Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. You can also call us anytime at 708-222-2222. Furthermore, you can contact us online through a contact form or through our convenient LiveChat feature. Consultations are absolutely free, and we don’t collect any fees until we win your case. So don’t wait; contact us today!