Mistreatment in Emergency Rooms Leading to Medical Malpractice

medical malpractice lawyer Portland

Know the Signs of Medical Malpractice and Mistreatment in Emergency Rooms

While people seek attention in an emergency room for a medical emergency, unfortunately these emergencies are not always taken seriously, leading to serious harm and even wrongful death. With many emergencies that are addressed in the emergency room, they need to be handled immediately and appropriately. However, there are often times for many reasons that patients either wait far too long, their complaints are dismissed, or they do not receive the appropriate treatment for that condition. When this occurs, and a patient is harmed or sadly dies, it is considered to be medical malpractice due to negligence and mistreatment in emergency rooms.

Reasons Why Emergency Room Errors Occur

There are many reasons as to why a person receives improper or negligent care in the emergency room. Every staff member in the emergency room plays a vital role in getting these patients the care they need. Failure to properly check a patient in can lead to delays in care as well as improper triaging on arrival. Inexperienced staff may not understand or realize that the person is truly experiencing an emergency, which can lead to a delay in care, improper treatment, or misdiagnosis of the condition entirely. 

Emergency rooms are often overcrowded, leaving room for errors as patients are put on gurneys and chairs in hallways, or are made to wait far too long. Additionally, if the emergency room is understaffed, it places patients at serious risk for all of the potential problems mentioned as staff do not have as much time to devote to each patient, and patients have to wait longer to receive the care they need.  This can be a form of mistreatment in emergency rooms leading to medical malpractice in Oregon.

Errors Occurring in the Emergency Room Due to Medical Malpractice

There are many errors that occur due to reasons mentioned above. Regardless of the reason for these errors occurring, negligence is negligence, even in spite of the best intentions of emergency room staff members. Examples of errors occurring in the emergency room include the following:

  • Failing to provide care in a timely manner, leading to patient harm and delay in treatment
  • Failing to appropriately diagnose patients, leading to misdiagnosis
  • Failing to properly assess the patient
  • Failure to appropriately triage the patient on arrival
  • Failing to diagnose serious medical emergencies, such as strokes, heart attacks and aortic dissections
  • Failing to properly treat medical emergencies such as strokes, heart attacks and aortic aneurysms 
  • Dismissing a patient’s complaints rather than allowing them to give a full summary of events and concerns
  • Failing to obtain a complete health history, leading to vital details being missed
  • Forgetting about a patient due to overcrowding or understaffing, leading to a delay in diagnosis, and care, or missed care entirely if the patient is forgotten about
  • Medication administration errors, such as the wrong dose, wrong route, or too much/too little of a medication being administered
  • Misinterpretation of test results, leading to a patient being sent home without proper diagnosis, or a patient receiving unnecessary treatment for a condition they do not have
  • Failing to use appropriate hygiene for procedures (i.e. sterile technique), leading to serious infection
  • Administration of a medication to a patient with a known allergy to that medication

These are just a few of the many errors that occur in emergency rooms every day in Oregon. Mistreatment in emergency rooms leading to medical malpractice is a very serious issue that could result in serious personal injuries to a victim.

Hurt Due to Medical Malpractice Due to Mistreatment in Emergency Rooms?  We Can Help

If you or a loved one have been seriously injured or killed as a result of medical malpractice contact the Oregon Medical Malpractice Lawyers at Kuhlman Law at our number below or fill out the intake form.  We offer a free initial case evaluation and handle cases on a contingency fee which means that you pay no money unless we recover.

Our law firm handles cases throughout the state including Bend and Portland Oregon, Redmond, Central Oregon, Sisters, Madras, Multnomah County, Deschutes County, Salem, Eugene, Corvallis, Lane County, Medford, Gresham, La Grande, Albany, Medford, Beaverton, Umatilla, Pendleton,  Cottage Grove, Florence, Oregon City, Springfield, Keizer, Grants Pass, McMinnville, Tualatin, West Linn, Forest Grove, Wilsonville, Newberg, Roseburg, Lake Oswego, Klamath Falls, Happy Valley, Tigard, Ashland, Milwakie, Coos Bay, The Dalles,  St. Helens, Sherwood, Central Point, Canby, Troutdale, Hermiston, Silverton, Hood River, Newport, Prineville, Astoria, Tillamook, Lincoln City, Hillsboro, and Vancouver, Washington.

We also have an office in Minneapolis, Minnesota and take medical malpractice cases throughout the Twin Cities, including St. Paul, Hennepin County, Ramsey County, Dakota County, Washington County, Anoka County, Scott County, Blaine, Stillwater, and Saint Paul Minnesota.

For a free case evaluation

Call

(541) 385-1999 in Bend, Oregon
(503) 479-3646 in Portland, Oregon
(612) 444-3374 in Minnesota

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