Usually, when you go to an emergency room in New York, it is because you are in need of serious medical help and you cannot wait to make an appointment to see a doctor. In these types of situations, you rely on the staff and professionals in the emergency room to see you promptly and respond reasonably in order to help you with your medical crisis. Usually, that is what happens and the highly trained men and women of the healthcare field help their patients. In some cases, however, delays in an emergency room or improper diagnosis can, in fact, make the situation much worse.
Medical malpractice is not just a way for people to try to get money out of their doctors because they are unhappy with treatment. Serious medical malpractice can result in someone’s symptoms becoming worse, potentially dangerously worse or even result in necessary procedures not being performed. In an emergency room, situations can often escalate quite quickly, which is why it is important that the staff and doctors respond promptly and properly to help treat the sick and injured.
One of the biggest dangers that can arise is a delay in treatment at an emergency room. These locations can often become very crowded, which requires that doctors and staff see people in order of urgency based on the seriousness of a person’s illness or injury. If an initial appraisal of your condition is not done properly, then your treatment might be delayed, which can make the situation drastically worse.
A misdiagnosis can also result in delays of treatment, both in an emergency room and from a general practitioner. If a doctor fails to recognize your symptoms properly, then treatment you require might not happen soon enough, or you might be given some type of treatment that you do not need at all. In either case, your situation can become worse, or you might develop new complications based on medication or procedures that you did not need.
While a misdiagnosis might not be sufficient grounds for a New York medical malpractice suit, it can be in some instances. If a medical professional treats you, and fails to make a diagnosis that other doctors believe would be a reasonable diagnosis to make, then that professional may have committed malpractice. If those actions led to an injury or your illness growing more severe, then a civil suit may be an appropriate response.
Call Wingate, Russotti, Shapiro, Moses & Halperin, LLP today at (212) 986-7353 to discuss your case if an emergency room visit has resulted in delayed treatment that made your situation worse. Our NY hospital malpractice lawyers want to talk to you and make sure your rights are protected.