Every year, an estimated 795,000 Americans are permanently disabled or die due to diagnostic errors. Unfortunately, emergency rooms can be one of the most common culprits behind diagnostic mistakes.
ERs are built to deliver fast-paced, life-saving care, but when they are overcrowded, there’s a risk of diagnostic errors. These errors could delay treatment or result in life-altering consequences. If you’ve suffered due to a missed, delayed, or incorrect diagnosis in an ER setting, a medical misdiagnosis lawyer can help you explore your legal options.
Why an Overcrowded Emergency Room is a Problem
Emergency department overcrowding is a growing concern in any hospital across the country. What’s fueling this unfortunate trend? Overcrowding can be linked to several patient safety concerns, such as:
- Healthcare worker staffing shortages
- An aging population with increased care needs
- A delay in timely diagnostic and care services
- A rise in complex health conditions
These factors have created a perfect storm of sorts. In an effort to treat more people due to overcrowding and get to the next patient, doctors and nurses may be forced to rush the diagnostic process. But what happens when they miss something?
How Diagnostic Errors Occur in a Busy Emergency Department
Some of the most common scenarios in which misdiagnosis occurs due to emergency department crowding include:
- Inadequacies and delays in patient evaluations due to time constraints
- Failure to review the full patient history or discrepancies in tests
- Communication errors and accidents between providers or physicians
- Overreliance on signs and symptoms without adequate diagnostic testing
While many hospitals have stringent criteria for classifying and evaluating patients, some can still slip through the cracks.
For example, imagine a patient comes in with chest pain but is quickly misdiagnosed with acid reflux rather than being evaluated for a heart attack. If a condition worsens because of this kind of error, a medical misdiagnosis lawyer can determine whether malpractice occurred.
Conditions Commonly Misdiagnosed in Overcrowding
Some conditions that might occur or be incorrectly diagnosed in the emergency department are:
- Stroke
- Sepsis
- Pulmonary embolism
- Meningitis
- Internal bleeding
- Heart attacks (especially in women and elderly patients)
These mistakes can result in treatment errors, which can cause irreversible damage or death. If you’re a victim of any of these misdiagnosis-related harms, legal action can be a critical step in holding negligent providers accountable.
What Must Be Proven in a Misdiagnosis Lawsuit?
To pursue a claim, you’ll need to establish the following:
- A doctor-patient relationship existed and the liability is there
- The provider failed to meet the standard of care
- That failure that occurred led to the misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis
- The error directly caused the harm
An experienced medical misdiagnosis lawyer will work with medical experts to evaluate your records and determine whether your case meets the threshold for malpractice. If possible, find an attorney with a medical background, as they can speak knowledgeably about both the legal and medical aspects of your case.
Why Choose a Medical Misdiagnosis Lawyer With a Medical Background
Attorneys who have a combination of legal and medical credentials are in a unique position to handle malpractice claims. They can speak to the standard of patient care that your provider should have met and outline how they deviated from those standards. A lawyer who focuses primarily on medical malpractice claims can assist with cases involving:
- Delayed diagnosis in emergency settings
- Failure to order proper tests
- Discharge without proper examination
- Inadequate follow-up
These breaches of duty can cost patients their health or even their lives.
Statute of Limitations and Your Legal Rights
In California, you have one year from the date you knew or should have known about your injury to file a medical malpractice claim. However, there are exceptions. If you do not discover the error within the first year, you have up to three years from the date of the injury. California law defaults to whichever date is earlier.
With such a limited window, it’s vital to meet with an experienced legal professional as soon as possible. They need time to gather evidence and build a strong case on your behalf.
The good news is that most personal injury attorneys, including those who handle malpractice claims, offer free consultations. This means you can have your case reviewed risk-free.
Get Legal Help From a Medical Misdiagnosis Lawyer
If you or a loved one was harmed because of a diagnostic error in an overcrowded emergency room, don’t wait. Contact The Trial Law Offices of Bradley I. Kramer, M.D, Esq., today.
Our team is ready to help you seek justice and recover compensation for your losses. Additionally, our office bills on a contingency basis, meaning you owe nothing unless we recover compensation for you.
Contact us to schedule a free consultation.