One of the regular issues that my office routinely handles for Marylanders, are situations involving a misdiagnosis of a medical condition by a doctor. Specifically, and most frequently, we deal with situations where that misdiagnosis, or failure to diagnose, occurs at an emergency room in Maryland.
Emergency rooms can be incredibly busy, stressful, and incredibly fast paced environments for anyone to work in, especially doctors. The added stress of an emergency room, however, is not an excuse to deviate from the standard of care in an emergency medical situation, both in treatment and diagnosis of the medical situation.
What are some medical conditions that may be misdiagnosed or incorrectly diagnosed in an emergency room?
Three common medical conditions that are misdiagnosed in the emergency room are heart attacks, strokes, and aneurysms.
For example:
A ruptured aneurysm could be mistaken for a kidney problem.
A heart attack could be mistaken for indigestion.
Misdiagnosing or failing to diagnose any of these medical conditions could worsen the emergency room patient’s prognosis. In the most severe instances, it could lead to wrongful death. The patient’s death or long-term illness (such as permanent brain damage in some instances) could very well be caused by the doctors’ negligence during the patient’s emergency room visit. One of the main things that we look for in evaluating these types of cases is whether or not if the diagnosis were made accurately and timely, would the death or additional injury/long term condition have occurred.
If we find and can prove in court that the death or additional medical issues could have been avoided by a timely diagnosis, then we can pursue damages against the negligent medical professional.
If you or someone you know have experienced a situation involving a misdiagnosis or a complete failure to diagnose which has lead to increased medical issues or even death, call our office immediately at (410) 885-6200 to schedule a free no-obligation consultation.
Maryland Attorney Jobeth Bowers is the founder of Bowers Law and a graduate of the University of Baltimore School of Law
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