Emergency rooms, by virtue of being designed for emergencies, open up more room for error and misdiagnosis. Though it may seem tricky getting a claim to stick in such a turbulent environment, with the help of experienced medical malpractice attorneys your chances of proving negligence and getting financial compensation are greatly improved.
Malpractice in emergency situations can be confusing. The chaos and urgency in emergency rooms blurs the lines of who can — and should — be held responsible for malpractice. This is one of the few occasions where doctors, nurses, medical staff, and the hospital itself can be held liable.
The long hours and stressful situations endured by emergency medical staff and physicians are no excuse for any injuries sustained by you or a loved one due to their carelessness. Patients frequently enter emergency rooms for life-threatening injuries or sicknesses, and adding to this suffering by introducing another problem is unacceptable.
Injuries
Common injuries include hemorrhaging, organ damage, and infection as a result of mistreatment, misdiagnosis, failure to treat, failure to monitor patient, medication errors, surgical errors, or anesthesia mistakes.
These errors, when combined with and already dire emergency situation, can prove fatal. They can increase recovery time, add to your medical bills, create complications to an existing injury or illness, or even be the direct cause of an entirely separate problem, a potentially life-threatening one.
Lawsuit
In Georgia, state law sets the statute of limitations at two years, meaning your claim must be filed within two years of the date of injury or death. Adhering to this timeline is important. Once those two years are up, you can no longer file charges against the doctor or emergency room that treated you, no matter how grievous the damage.
Though many states have laws in place protecting first responders from most lawsuits, and though the Good Samaritan Law is in effect in all 50 states, it only protects off-duty doctors and does not extend into emergency rooms. This means that emergency room doctors and other employees are just as liable for their mistakes as a regular doctor.
Contact Moraitakis & Kushel, LLP
If you wish to pursue emergency room medical malpractice litigation, contact Moraitakis & Kushel, LLPat 404-261-0016, or fill out our online contact form.
Your initial consultation is free and, if we accept your case, there are no attorney’s fees unless we collect compensation for you.
