By its very nature—a place where sick or injured people gather—an emergency room is sometimes a frightening place. However, this is where Denver residents must go when urgent treatment or care is necessary. Despite the fear, most people trust the emergency room staff to assess their unique situation quickly and prescribe the right treatment. However, medical malpractice can and does occur in an emergency room setting.
All members of an emergency room team are human, of course, and therefore subject to making human mistakes. This includes physicians, nurses, lab techs, radiology staff and many others. From medication errors to improperly read x-rays or CAT scans, these mistakes can be serious if not life threatening.
Some of the most serious emergency room mistakes are diagnostic errors, sometimes resulting in death. These types of mistakes include misdiagnosis, a failure to diagnose and a delayed diagnosis. Such mistakes may seriously affect the treatment an emergency room patient receives, leading to worsening conditions or exposure to the wrong treatment altogether.
Health conditions that are subject to diagnostic mistakes in the emergency room include:
- Stroke
- Heart attack
- Appendicitis
- Pulmonary embolism
- Pancreatitis
- Cancer
Other emergency room errors include:
- Surgical mistakes
- Contaminated blood and other samples
- Delayed treatment
- Insufficient patient monitoring
- Lab errors
Many Colorado residents feel they have no recourse if they or someone they know have been the victim of emergency room medical malpractice. The truth is, hospitals are no different from private physicians when it comes to endangering the welfare of their patients due to malpractice. The law provides victims with several options to help them seek and receive damage awards to pay for their injuries.
Please browse our website to see if you may have grounds to pursue a medical malpractice lawsuit for injuries sustained in an emergency room.