San Antonio Emergency Room Medical Malpractice Lawyer
Strong advocacy for Texas patients when ER errors cause harm
When a patient arrives at an emergency room at a hospital or facility, he/she has the right to expect the doctors will make the correct diagnosis and provide the proper type of care for the patient’s injuries or illnesses. Delays in care, failing to order the correct diagnostic tests, misreading the results of those tests, medication mistakes, and discharging patients who should be admitted are just some of the ER mistakes that may be considered medical malpractice.
At the Law Offices of Pat Maloney, our San Antonio medical malpractice lawyer works with physicians who have the experience to examine the type of ER care you receive and testify about whether that care is incompetent. Delays in medical care, such as failing to give clot-busting drugs for stroke or mistaking a heart attack for anxiety, may cause disabling injuries or may be fatal. Some of our medical malpractice results include:
- $20 million in a breast implant case
- $6.5 million for a quadriplegia client
- $2.5 million for the improper administration of anesthesia, which resulted in brain damage and the death of a client
- $2.25 million for a medical malpractice case involving anoxic brain injury
Frequently Asked Questions
- What are the different types of emergency room negligence?
- What type of harm do San Antonio ER patients suffer due to medical malpractice?
- Who is responsible for ER mistakes in San Antonio?
- What are the requirements for filing a medical malpractice claim in San Antonio?
- Do you have an emergency room malpractice lawyer near me?
What are the different types of emergency room negligence?
Other types of emergency room errors that doctors in San Antonio make include:
- Medication errors
- Anesthesia errors
- Surgical errors
- Diagnostic errors
- Interpreting the results of the tests correctly
- Medication mistakes
- Contaminated blood mistakes
- Failing to monitor a patient
- Improper treatment of infections
- Delays in treatment
- Discharging a patient too early or if the patient should be admitted
- Failure to address or diagnose life threatening conditions for a pregnant woman and her child
What are common ER misdiagnosis mistakes?
A misdiagnosis in the ER is often due to dismissing patient complaints and failing to give the patient the time a doctor needs to make a proper diagnosis. An improper diagnosis includes a misdiagnosis (diagnosing the wrong problem), delayed diagnosis (not examining the patient quickly), and failure to make a diagnosis (not finding that there is anything wrong when there is something definitely wrong).
According to a report by the US Department of Health and Human Services, a review of 330 studies published between January 2000 and September 2021 found that approximately 7.4 million diagnosis errors are made each year in emergency rooms. About one-third of these errors caused harm that would have been preventable with timely ER care. Another 370,000 patients are permanently disabled or die due to a misdiagnosis.
The DHHS report found that the top five conditions that were misdiagnosed were:
- Stroke
- Myocardial infarction
- Aortic aneurysm/dissection
- Spinal cord compression/injury
- Venous thromboembolism
Other diagnostic mistakes include improper diagnosis of:
- Sepsis
- Lung cancer
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Gastrointestinal disorders
- Intestinal obstructions
The DHHS report found that most emergency department diagnostic mistakes were “Mostly cognitive errors linked to the process of bedside diagnosis. Malpractice claims associated with serious misdiagnosis-related harms involved failures of clinical assessment, reasoning, or decision-making in about 90 percent of cases.”
What type of harm do San Antonio ER patients suffer due to medical malpractice?
The type of harm the ER mistakes may cause varies depending on the type of mistake and the type of medical disorder.
Generally, delays in treatment, misdiagnosis errors, and treatment errors can cause the following types of medical harm:
- Direct harm, such as operating on the wrong limb
- Preventing the patient from being able to obtain the medical care that would have been used to treat their condition if their ER treatment had been timely
- Corrective surgeries or treatment that wouldn’t have been necessary if the proper ER medical care had been provided initially
In the most tragic cases, a patient may die due to ER medical malpractice. Our San Antonio medical error lawyer files wrongful death claims on behalf of the patient’s children, parents, and spouse when medical malpractice is fatal.
Who is responsible for ER mistakes in San Antonio?
Some of the causes of emergency room mistakes include:
- Poor communication between the doctors, nurses, and other medical providers
- Being understaffed
- Being overstressed
- Not being properly trained
- Being distracted
At the Law Offices of Pat Maloney, our San Antonio ER lawyer files claims against all responsible parties. In addition to the doctors, nurses, medical technicians, and other individual healthcare providers, the hospital may be liable for the negligence of their staff or failing to properly assist their staff.
What are the requirements for filing a medical malpractice claim in San Antonio?
There are four basic requirements for filing a medical malpractice claim:
- There must be a doctor-patient relationship. Usually, this relationship is accepted the moment the ER department agrees to examine and treat someone who needs emergency care. Where patients are able, they will be asked to sign paperwork confirming that they are requesting medical care. Many times, though, patients are bleeding severely, having a heart attack, or are otherwise not able to review and sign any documents. The doctor-patient relationship is established through the examination and treatment of the patient.
- The medical care must be negligent. In San Antonio medical malpractice cases, the doctor is required to provide emergency care that competent ER doctors in the San Antonio region would have provided. Typically, ER care can be fairly hectic especially if there are many emergencies that need treatment at the same time. Some patients may have life-threatening conditions. There may not be time to order and review diagnostic tests. Still, there are common ER standards that every ER doctor is expected to know and meet. Our San Antonio emergency room medical malpractice lawyer works with ER doctors in San Antonio who understand these standards of care.
- The negligent care must cause harm. Medical harm can include the need for corrective treatment. If that corrective care cannot be provided, the harm may be the worsening of a medical condition or the inability to correct a medical condition that would have been treatable if competent care was provided.
- That harm must have led to damages. If the harm you suffered led to additional medical costs, lost wages, and/or pain and suffering, then you sustained damages as a result of that harm. These damages are compensable under Texas law.
Do you have an emergency room malpractice lawyer near me?
Our San Antonio emergency medical mistake lawyer meets patients and families at our office located at 239 E Commerce St. in the center of Downtown San Antonio, TX. Our office is one of the most historic buildings in San Antonio. You’ll find it easy to locate parking. We do conduct video conferences and phone conversations. We also make in-hospital visits when necessary.
Don’t worry. We’ve helped thousands of personal injury victims, many of them patients, obtain strong compensation for their medical bills, pain and suffering, lost income, loss of quality of life, and other damages.
Speak with an experienced San Antonio medical malpractice lawyer today
ER doctors know that they’ll be handling the tough cases – patients who need immediate medical help. These doctors should be ready to anticipate and treat those tough cases. ER doctors must know how to diagnose ER patients and how to provide quality medical care. While nobody expects doctors to cure every problem, doctors must provide the competent medical care other doctors in their position would provide.
At the Law Offices of Pat Maloney, our San Antonio ER malpractice lawyer has the experience and resources to help patients obtain justice for medical mistakes. We’ve been fighting for patients and accident victims for 70 years. To discuss your rights, call us or complete our contact form to schedule a free consultation. We’re ready to help you today.