Lack of emergency room treatment may be malpractice in California

It is a fact of life that people make mistakes, and, unfortunately, sometimes those people are surgeons and hospital staff. Whether in surgery or in an emergency room evaluation, quick decisions are often necessary, and sometimes serious errors may result from a wrong decision. This blog reported in a previous post about a careless surgeon who, after making numerous mistakes in his California practice, was ultimately placed on probation after one patient died and others suffered serious injuries.

Doctors working in emergency rooms deal with a tremendous range of medical problems - from relatively minor broken bones to life-threatening illnesses that need immediate attention. If a patient's ailment is misdiagnosed in the initial triage system, a patient can suffer from a worsened condition and possibly even death if left untreated. Conditions that may lead a person to seek emergency room treatment and that could prove fatal if left untreated or treated improperly include internal injuries, bleeding, infection and even the common appendicitis.

Sometimes it is not just the treatment a patient receives from a surgeon in an emergency room, but it could also be the lack of treatment that causes a patient's condition to take a turn for the worse. A premature discharge from the hospital or failure to refer a patient to a much-needed specialist could prove seriously damaging to a patient's health.

If a surgeon or other hospital staff failed to properly evaluate and treat a patient they may have committed malpractice by not meeting the required applicable standard of care. If this is the case, it may be possible to bring a lawsuit to recover compensation. Attorney Steven I. Kastner is available to discuss with patients possible medical malpractice that may have resulted from surgical errors, or lack of treatment, in a California hospital.

For more information, visit our emergency room malpractice page.