Misdiagnosis in the Hospital Emergency Room

Virginia (VA) Medical Malpractice Lawyers
Offices in VA Beach, Hampton & Elizabeth City, NC 
 

In our Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA) law firm we get a lot of calls about medical malpractice claims that arise from a doctor’s misdiagnosis of a serious medical condition. Misdiagnosis is where the physician doesn’t realize that the patient has a particular medical problem and sends them home with the wrong diagnosis and the wrong treatment plan. Sometimes, the patient may die or suffer some other catastrophic injury like the loss of fingers or other amputation because they did not get the necessary medical treatment in a timely fashion.

Misdiagnosis of medical problems can occur in any setting where patients interact with doctors. For example, it could happen in your family doctor’s office, a pediatrician’s office, an internist’s office, an urgent care facility, or even in a specialist’s office. One of the more common settings for this kind of medical malpractice is the emergency room at the local hospital. Part of the reason that emergency rooms are the location of misdiagnosis has to do with the nature of the practice of emergency room doctors. A crowded, busy emergency room particularly in a city like Norfolk or Virginia Beach, Virginia can be very stressful. Emergency room physicians often get frustrated by the fact that some people, particularly those without health insurance, are forced to come to the emergency room to treat chronic problems rather than the kind of acute emergency situations that those hospital emergency rooms are really designed for. This is, in part, a problem with the whole medical care system in the United States, not just in Virginia or North Carolina (NC).

However, the safe method of diagnosis for an emergency room physician doesn’t change just because his or her waiting room is busy or crowded. The standard method for diagnosis is called differential diagnosis. Using differential diagnosis, the doctor is trained to figure out what are the possible problems with the patient and rank those in terms of the severity of risk to the patient’s health. The bigger the risk, like the patient dying or losing a limb, the more attention that needs to be paid to either exclude that as not being the cause of the problem or to make treatment to prevent the harm a priority.

Unfortunately, sometimes the rushed emergency room doctor will not take the time and get the differential diagnosis right. They may fail to think of and rule in or out a particular problem like appendicitis, or inflamed appendix, ignoring the symptoms which match up with that diagnosis. Another way that emergency room misdiagnosis occurs is where the doctor or the hospital triage or intake nurse do not listen carefully enough to the patient to get all of the relevant history and symptoms. For example, the hospital emergency room may not recognize that there is some kind of mental or cognitive problem that is a sign of a stroke, by assuming that the patient is slow for some other reason. We have often seen in our law practice where the emergency room doctors treat folks who were in automobile accidents like second-class citizens not giving enough attention to some of the serious but more subtle effects that can happen like moderate traumatic brain injury. Sometimes a misdiagnosis in the emergency room will not result in a catastrophic injury to the patient because the correct diagnosis will be picked up later by a doctor who spends more time with the patient. However, it is unfortunately too frequent that a loved one, whether a son or daughter, husband or wife, mom or dad, is sent home from the emergency room told that they just have the flu or a stomach bug only to have them find out days later that they have something much more serious and life threatening which went untreated because of a medical mistake.

Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton personal injury law firm is based in Virginia practicing primarily in the southeastern U.S. and handles only injury law, including car, truck, railroad, and medical negligence cases and more. The firm's website is: hsinjurylaw.com, the firm edits two injury law blogs: Virginia Beach Injuryboard & Norfolk Injuryboard, and also hosts a video library covering many FAQ’s on personal injury subjects.

How can you identify a top Virginia injury lawyer for your case? Look no further.

Our Virginia personal injury lawyers have been selected for many accolades.

Two of the VA injury attorneys with our firm, James Lewis and Rick Shapiro, have been named among the Best Lawyers in America since 2008. Lewis and Shapiro have also selected for inclusion in the National Million Dollar Advocates Forum since 2009. Leiws and Shappiro, along with attorney John C. have been recognized as Virginia Super Lawyers for Personal Injury Law since 2010.

Ours was the first personal injury firm in Virginia invited to join Primerus, a select group of highly ethical and respected law firms. Rick Shapiro was named as one of the Top 100 Injury Lawyers in Virginia by the National Trial Lawyers Association.

In October, 2000 our law firm and co-counsel obtained what was then the largest verdict in Virginia's history for an injured person. Our brain-damaged client received an initial award of $46 million that increased to $60 million with interest compounded while the defendant pursued a failed appeal, and was confidentially settled during the appeal.

 

Geographical Areas

Our lawyers handle personal injury cases throughout the eastern United States and work closely with lawyers in other states on signficant injury cases.

In Virginia, we are prepared to counsel and represent injury and wrongful death victims in Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Hampton, Newport News, Suffolk, Richmond, Petersburg, Roanoke, Salem, Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax, Fredericksburg, Charlottesville, Ashland, Big Stone Gap and all of the Eastern Shore, including the towns of Accomack, Onancock, Chincoteauge, Wachapreague, Cape Charles, Bloxom, Eastville, Exmore, Greenbackville, Machipongo, Mappsville, Melfa, Nassawadox, Onley, Tangier, Temperanceville, Wachapreague and Wallops Island.

For clients in West Virginia (WV), we are happy to consider personal injury claims from residents of Bluefield, Beckley, Bridgeport, Charles Town, Charleston, Fairmont, Huntington, Lewisburg, Madison, Martinsburg, Morgantown, Moundsville, Parkersburg, Ripley, Sutton, Weirton, Wheeling and any other town or county.

Attorneys with Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton hold licenses to practice in VA, WV, North Carolina (NC), South Carolina (SC), Kentucky (KY), Florida (FL) and Washington, DC.

About the Editors: Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton is a Virginia injury law firm whose attorneys focus on personal injury and accident law and have extensive experience handling medical malpractice and doctor mistake cases. Please take a few moments to review our medical malpractice case results. We have offices in Virginia Beach and Hampton, VA, but we're ready to come to you anywhere in Virginia, including Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Newport News and Suffolk, VA, if you've been seriously hurt by the carelessness of a doctor, surgeon, nurse or pharmacist.

Rick Shapiro and James Lewis have been recognized as among the Best Lawyers in America since 2008. Also, Rick and Jim have been named Virginia Super Lawyers for Personal Injury Law since 2010. Fewer than 5 percent of lawyers are chosen for this professional honor.

Members of our VA personal injury law firm have also been selected by the National Million Dollar Advocates Forum since 2009. In addition, we were the first injury law firm in Virginia to join Primerus, a select group of highly ethical and respected law firms. Our VA medical malpractice firm has the highest rating of AV from Martindale-Hubbell, a national lawyer ranking organization, which means we have a reputation for preeminent legal skill.

We offer free special reports on the Top 10 Tips from a Medical Malpractice Insider and the top five surgical errors you must know about. 

While not every injury case meets our criteria, we offer free initial confidential injury case consultation, so call us toll free at (800) 752-0042. If you cannot get through due to high call volume, please leave a voicemail so we can return your call.