When you rush to the emergency room to receive care for an illness or injury, you expect to receive the exact help you need. Unfortunately, that’s not always what happens. Out of the 150 million people who visit emergency rooms every year in the United States, 6% receive a misdiagnosis — and that’s only one of many possible types of medical mistakes.
If you’ve suffered injuries because of emergency room errors in Tampa, you may be entitled to receive compensation for your losses. At Roman Austin Personal Injury Lawyers, our Florida medical malpractice lawyers can help you fight for a fair settlement or jury award. Contact one of our attorneys today at (813) 422-7772 to schedule a free consultation.
How Roman Austin Personal Injury Lawyers Can Help After An Accident In Tampa, FL
Medical malpractice can mean suffering potentially catastrophic injuries when expecting to receive care for illnesses or wounds. You can be left with all manner of physical and emotional trauma that impacts your everyday life. If you have suffered losses because of a medical professional’s negligence, you may be entitled to file a claim and receive compensation.
At Roman Austin Personal Injury Lawyers, our Tampa, Florida, medical malpractice attorneys can help you pursue lawsuits against the liable parties. We provide services that include:
- Evaluating your claim during a free consultation
- Investigating the incident
- Gathering evidence and speaking with witnesses
- Consulting expert medical witnesses
- Establishing liability
- Negotiating with insurance companies
- Pursuing a trial if a settlement isn’t possible
Our team has been helping people throughout Florida since 1996. With tenacity and a focus on providing client-centered representation, we have helped those who depend on us receive more than $200 million in settlements and jury verdicts. Contact our team of attorneys to schedule a free consultation.
Common Emergency Room Errors In Tampa
A wide range of errors can occur in an emergency room. But when negligence on the part of medical professionals is involved, some issues are more common than others. Here are some examples of frequently occurring emergency room missteps.
Misdiagnosis
Some of the most common emergency room errors are misdiagnoses. A misdiagnosis will prevent you from receiving the appropriate treatment and could mean a worsening of the condition that took you to the emergency room in the first place. Some conditions that often get misdiagnosed in the emergency room include:
- Heart attacks
- Strokes
- Spinal cord injuries
- Appendicitis
- Venous thromboembolism
A misdiagnosis can occur if medical professionals fail to order appropriate tests, misinterpret results, or ignore important medical history or information.
Delayed Treatment
Delayed treatments can result in everything from worsening conditions to fatalities. Medical professionals might be so busy in emergency rooms that they don’t immediately treat patients who need urgent care. Delayed treatment can mean that even when the patient does finally receive care, they’re more likely to have adverse results.
Inadequate Performance Of A Procedure
If a medical professional doesn’t perform the necessary procedures correctly, further injuries can happen. Emergency room nurses and doctors must be able to perform a variety of procedures and operate numerous medical devices under pressure. If they make a mistake that another medical professional with the same training wouldn’t have made, they can be held liable.
Medication Errors
Patients who receive the wrong medications or the wrong dosages of the right medication can suffer serious side effects. Conditions can worsen, and other issues may arise as well. Sometimes, it’s the administrator of the medicine who makes the mistake. Other times, it can be the pharmacist who fills out the prescription or the doctor who prescribes the medication.
Improper Discharge From The Emergency Room
Emergency rooms never have enough room for all of the patients who need attention. That can prompt medical professionals to discharge people who are still not well enough to go home. Improper discharge can include being sent home before it’s safe, not being given instructions on how to help yourself heal, or being sent home without an accurate diagnosis.
Connected with this issue is a failure to follow up on treatment. Those who are discharged from the emergency room might still need to receive care. It could be that their conditions, like infections, need to be monitored. Alternatively, they may need a doctor to assess whether their medications are offering the intended results.
Contact Our Tampa, FL, Medical Malpractice Lawyers For A Free Consultation
If you suffered an injury in an emergency room because of medical negligence, one potential option you have is to file a claim against the liable parties. Medical malpractice claims are never easy because they require demonstrating that other medical professionals wouldn’t have made the same mistake.
To have a chance to recover your losses, you need an attorney. At Roman Austin Personal Injury Lawyers, our Tampa medical malpractice lawyers can help you fight for compensation to cover medical expenses, lost wages, and emotional distress. Contact our team to speak with a Florida attorney about what you’ve experienced.
