Medical Malpractice: Emergency Room Errors
Serving Dallas, DeSoto, Duncanville, Midlothian and Waxahachie, Texas
When we get sick or injured and go to the emergency room, we trust that the nurses and doctors there are competent and will take good care of us. We’d like to think that doctors and other medical professionals and infallible; however, that is simply not the case.
Doctors, surgeons, and nurses all make mistakes, but when those mistakes result in injury or death to the patient, medical malpractice has occurred. It is estimated that approximately 195,000 people died due to preventable hospital errors in the years 2001, 2002, and 2003. Statistics indicate that 51.7% of ER-related malpractice claims involved misdiagnosis, delayed diagnosis, or failure to diagnose a condition (most often heart attacks and appendicitis).
Medical malpractice laws are in place in order to protect us from errors made by doctors and other medical professionals. Dallas, Texas personal injury attorneys like the ones at Polewski & Associates have the resources and expertise necessary to get you the compensation and justice you deserve following a medical mistake that either caused you harm or resulted in the death of a loved one.
Many of our nation's hospital emergency rooms are overcrowded with patients needing care who are sometimes required to wait for several hours. ER staffs are often overworked, or there are just too few staff members to give patients the time and care they require.Some ER physicians work shifts as long as 36-48 hours, with very little sleep during those long hours. Due to the chaotic environment in large city ERs, mistakes are made, and some of those mistakes are deadly. In the rush of getting patients in and out of the ER, some diagnostic tests are not ordered, test results may get lost or mixed up with another patient, wait times may cause patients to become even sicker, and medical histories may not be taken properly and thoroughly.
Proving Negligence
Medical malpractice can be difficult to prove, and there are certain, specific elements that must exist in order for it to be legally proven. The medical malpractice attorneys at Polewski & Associates will evaluate your case and determine whether or not medical malpractice can be shown in your particular claim. These four elements must be proven are:
- Duty of care—the existence of a duty of care exists because of the contractual relationship between the doctor and patient. Once a relationship is established, the medical professional has a duty to possess the medical knowledge of a reasonably competent medical professional in the same specialty
- Breach of duty—to prove breach a duty, your attorney will have to show that a reasonably competent healthcare professional would have acted differently in the same situation
- Injury to the patient because of the breach—Damages that are recoverable include medical expenses, lost income, pain and suffering, loss of consortium, impairment to ability to earn money in the future
- Proximate cause—proof of causation requires expert witnesses to testify to prove negligence occurred
If you have suffered due to a medical mistake, or if you lost a loved one due to medical malpractice, please contact the Dallas medical malpractice law firm, Polewski & Associates, today to schedule a no-cost, confidential consultation.
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Have you or a loved one been seriously hurt due to an emergency room error? Please contact the medical malpractice lawyers of Polewski & Associates today to schedule a consultation.
Highland Park Place |
1229 E. Pleasant Run Road #120 |
117 N 8th St |
Call 972-228-1716 or
Toll Free 866-228-1716
