A hospital emergency room can be a crowded and chaotic place. However, that’s no excuse for a medical error to occur to you. It’s important to note that an emergency room can be one of the most challenging settings for physicians. Medical malpractice law may even allow doctors more leeway in these circumstances, but that leeway is limited. Emergency room doctors can still be held liable for substandard care. If you’re pursuing an emergency room medical malpractice case, you’re going to need a very good Florida medical expert witness to prove it.
Proving An Emergency Room Medical Malpractice Claim
Emergency room negligence must demonstrate a breach in the standard of care. For example, if a person goes to the ER complaining of a headache, the standard of care in an emergency room setting may be different than that of a specialist. A specialist may perform MRIs or CT scans to rule out a brain tumor. In the emergency room setting, it may be appropriate for the doctor to just perform some simple tests and prescribe some pain medication.
If you’re filing a claim for medical malpractice in an emergency room setting, you’re going to need a Florida medical expert witness who can methodically show how the ER room treatment fell short of the treatment of care under the circumstances. That medical expert witness must answer the question “What would a reasonably competent doctor have done?” Then, a medical expert witness will compare it what was actually done or not done.
Based on the mistakes made in an emergency room setting, the plaintiff must prove three elements:
- A doctor-patient relationship existed
- The treatment was negligent
- The patient was harmed by the emergency room medical treatment
The main issue is whether the emergency room doctor’s actions caused harm and does it constitute negligence. Negligence is the element of a malpractice suit that is the most difficult to prove.
Example of an Emergency Room Medical Malpractice
Here is another example of how substandard care could occur in an emergency room setting. Say you visit the hospital due to wrist pain. The emergency room doctor misses a fracture in the X-ray. At that point, you see another doctor and that doctor diagnosis a fractured wrist and says you need surgery. This second doctor also states that if the fracture had been properly diagnosed and put in a cast in the first place, no surgery would have been required.
A medical expert could testify how the delay in proper diagnosis was detrimental to the patient. This testimony could result in compensable damages if your medical expert witness can prove that the ER doctor’s negligence caused foreseeable harm, pain, suffering, medical bills for additional corrective treatment, and loss of earnings.
Getting the Right Medical Witness Expert for Your Emergency Room Medical Malpractice Claim
An experienced medical malpractice expert witness is going to be needed in order to win a medical malpractice case.
With over 25 years of experience in the field, Dr. Edward Mallory is a residency-trained, board-certified emergency medicine physician and medical expert witness. If he is not in the courtroom to support his clients’ testimonies, you can find him in several hospitals around Florida building on his expertise as a physician.
Dr. Mallory is hired by people who believe they have been a victim of medical malpractice. He gives written and oral testimonies and “expert opinions.” He will gather all of the medical records needed to prove your case and work closely with your medical malpractice attorney.
