Recovering From Emergency Room Errors

When we go to an emergency room for medical attention, the last thing we expect to receive is additional injuries. Unfortunately, emergency room errors are far too common of an occurrence and can result in catastrophic injuries in a patient. When these injuries occur, it can take swift legal action to hold the liable party accountable for the harm they have caused.

At Weston Smith Law, PLLC, we have been helping people throughout the Tampa Bay area recover from medical malpractice since 1992. We know the dangers of medical malpractice and the emergency room, and we know how to fight to secure the compensation that our clients desperately need after an injury. We are ready to offer you the guidance you need through your medical malpractice claim, no matter how you were harmed in the emergency room.

Common Emergency Room Injuries

With as busy and chaotic as emergency rooms can be, it may not be surprising to learn of all the different ways that an emergency room error can occur. In the decades we have been representing clients through their medical malpractice claims, we have offered them the representation they needed for injuries caused in the emergency room such as:

• Improperly medicating patients
• Failing to attend to patients
• Misdiagnosing patients
• Improperly performed procedures
• Exposure to infections

No matter how you were hurt in the emergency room, you can rest easy knowing that we are doing everything in our power as your legal representation to create a personalized medical malpractice strategy on your behalf. We do not take shortcuts in our work, and we explore all possible methods of fighting for our clients in every case we take. We believe that when a hospital is liable for your injuries, they should also be responsible for the consequences of their actions.

Answers To Your Emergency Room Malpractice Questions

Patients and their families often ask the same things after an ER visit goes wrong. You can find answers to several of them in the following section:

Does the chaotic environment of an emergency room legally excuse doctors or nurses from making mistakes in Florida?

No, but Florida law does set a higher bar for many ER claims. Under Florida Statutes Section 768.13, a provider who treats you before you are stable is usually liable only for reckless disregard of your life or health. Once you are stable, the usual negligence rules often apply, so the timing of each choice matters.

Can I sue an ER for misdiagnosing a critical condition, like misinterpreting symptoms of a heart attack, stroke or appendicitis?

Yes, if the missed diagnosis fell below the standard of care and caused you harm. Heart attacks, strokes and appendicitis often show warning signs that a careful ER team should catch with the right tests. We review your records to show what the staff missed and how the delayed diagnosis changed your outcome.

Who is legally responsible for an ER error: the individual emergency physician, the nursing staff or the hospital itself?

It depends on who made the error and how the hospital staffs its ER. Hospitals are usually liable for mistakes by the nurses and other staff they hire. Many ER doctors work as outside contractors, but a hospital may still share the blame if it presented them as its own doctors.

What can I do if my loved one suffered harm because they were made to wait too long or discharged prematurely from the emergency room?

Start by requesting the medical records, then write down a timeline of the wait, the symptoms and the release papers. A federal law called EMTALA requires hospitals to check patients and stabilize urgent cases, so a long wait or early release may support a claim. If your loved one did not survive, your family may have a wrongful death claim under Florida law.

How do I prove that an emergency room medication error or improper procedure directly caused a worsening injury or condition?

Florida requires proof that the error more likely than not caused your injury to worsen. Before you file suit, state law also requires a written opinion from a medical expert that backs your medical malpractice claim. We work with doctors who serve as expert witnesses to test the ER records against accepted standards.

Get The Representation You Are Looking For

When a hospital’s legal and insurance teams begin to fight against your compensation claim, ensure you have a skilled and driven Florida malpractice attorney who can fight back for you. Call us at 727-866-4103 or e-mail us here to schedule your initial consultation today and take the first step towards resolving your claim after an emergency room error.