Hospital Emergency Room Negligence

Ohio Emergency Room Negligence Attorneys

​Emergency rooms, hospitals, and urgent care centers can often make the difference between life and death. However, with constant pressure to increase profits, patient care and safety sometimes lose priority, resulting in emergency room negligence.

Medical malpractice in emergency rooms can be caused by one or more of the following:

Inadequate staffing. If the emergency room, hospital or urgent care center does not employ qualified physicians, a critical illness can go undetected or untreated.

Improper operating procedures. When a medical care facility fails to implement procedures to ensure proper handling of medications and medical equipment, patient safety can be jeopardized.

Overcrowding. Emergency Departments were known for “boarding” their patients which sometimes lead to longer hospital stays and a higher mortality rate.

Improper testing or failing to test. X-rays, CT scans, MRI scans and other tests are critical for timely diagnosis of significant medical conditions. When an emergency room, hospital or urgent care center fails to administer such tests, or fails to appropriately interpret test results, patient care and safety is compromised.

Recognizing when malpractice has occurred can be confusing. There a few questions to observe after being admitted to an emergency room:

• When you went to the emergency room, were you provided solutions for your care?
• What were you told and did it match the outcome?
• Was your reason for going to the emergency room solved within a few weeks?

If you can’t answer these questions with certainty, you could be a victim of emergency room negligence.

ER And Urgent Care Malpractice

The unfortunate consequences that come in dealing with emergency medical facilities leave the patients at risk. Whether the outcome is failing to recognize significant symptoms, being discharged too early, or having the wrong procedure performed, emergency room malpractice can be fatal.

Victims of emergency room malpractice experience physical and non-physical problems such as:

1. Receiving the wrong medication

• • The FDA averages around 100,000 reports for suspected medication error each year in the United States 

2. Improper communication between the medical staff

• • This has a major negative effect on the patient’s quality of care, safety and their medical outcome

3. Declining to give proper instructions to patients

• • Patients receive the wrong care information and lengthen injury or sickness

4. Inaccurate Billing

5. Not recognizing the proper symptoms to a patient’s medical issue

• • There are cases where the patient was misdiagnosed or discharged too soon due to the doctor not properly recognizing a patient’s symptoms which resulted in further injury or sicknesses.

6. Conducting inaccurate or pointless tests

• • Occurring charges for medical tests not pertaining to the patient’s medical issue.

7. Extreme wait times

• • When a patient waits for an extended amount of time, their injuries or sicknesses become more severe.

8. Referring the patient to the incorrect specialist

• • This takes time away from correcting the patient’s problem and medical charges that are unnecessary

Things to Remember In Any Ohio Malpractice Claim

Ohio Law requires plaintiffs to meet and supply a burden of proof. In order to empower a patient’s case for malpractice, the patient needs to submit a sustainable medical malpractice lawsuit. Because malpractice is the failure or violation to abide by a satisfactory level of care, the malpractice needs to be proven through a viable claim. Any issue not adhering to the proper standard of care needs verification of validity through a law professional.

Ohio Law also has strict time limits within which medical malpractice cases must be filed.  The time limits are complicated. To understand the specifics of your case and whether you are still eligible to file a claim, it’s important to contact an attorney.

If you live in the suburbs of one of Ohio’s major cities such as Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Mansfield, Dayton, Springfield, Toledo, Akron or Canton, there are several urgent care facilities that provide medical services closer to home. In more rural areas, these facilities provide emergency and out-patient services to county residents who do not wish to incur the expense and time required to visit a hospital in a larger town. On most occasions, these facilities provide a high level of care. There are situations, however, where these County Hospitals and urgent care facilities make mistakes or where negligence can lead to errors, permanent injury, even death. Perhaps a procedure shouldn’t have been performed in the first place. 

If you or someone you love has been the victim of negligence or urgent care mistakes, please give us a call. Clark, Perdue, and List are experienced Ohio personal injury attorneys with a proven track record of ensuring justice for victims.