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Misdiagnosis Is One of the Most Common Emergency Room Malpractice Claims

On Behalf of | Nov 18, 2015 | Medical Malpractice

Patients are taught to go to the emergency clinic or emergency room when they believe their lives are in danger, especially when they experience chest pain or severe pain in other parts of their bodies. Sometimes, however, the emergency-room personnel do not detect the patient’s correct condition. Often this situation results in a misdiagnosis, which, along with diagnostic-related claims like failure to diagnose or a delay in diagnosis, is one of the most common forms of emergency room negligence according to The Doctors Company’s Emergency Medicine Closed Claims Study.

The healthcare providers may not order the right tests, or they may ignore results. In addition, a healthcare provider might fail to request a consult or may discharge a patient too soon. We have had cases where emergency-room staff failed to identify such serious conditions as heart attacks, pulmonary embolism, meningitis, and aortic problems, just to name a few.

The commonality among all medical malpractice claims is the healthcare provider’s violation of the standard of care, which, in turn, causes serious harm to the patient. This claim standard is important, because when a healthcare provider is negligent but does not cause demonstrable harm to the patient, Indiana’s medical malpractice law does not allow this patient to recover damages. It is impossible to list all the kinds of medical negligence. However, the emergency-clinic errors described above are examples of negligence that might lead to a medical malpractice lawsuit.

If you suspect that your injury is due to a similar error, consider consulting with an Indiana medical malpractice lawyer. Pursuing a claim can be a complex and involved process. The attorneys of Langer & Langer have handled all kinds of emergency room medical malpractice claims for patients throughout Indiana.

Feel free to contact our offices if you have further questions about medical malpractice under Indiana law.