Emergency rooms (ERs) in Minneapolis, Minnesota serve a critical purpose. Yet if the premises and staff aren’t properly equipped to handle the influx of patients, they can be the setting of serious medical negligence and malpractice incidents.
If you or someone you love suffered injury, infection or wrongful death due to emergency room errors, it’s important to seek legal help from an attorney. Goldenberg Lauricella, PLLC, has been recognized nationally for outstanding achievements in medical malpractice law. We know how to help our clients secure justice and full compensation for serious ER errors.
Contact us today for a no-cost, no-obligation initial consultation with an emergency room error lawyer in Minneapolis. With us, you matter most.
Why Choose Goldenberg Lauricella, PLLC
- We have over 40 years of experience in medical malpractice law. Our team isn’t afraid of taking on tough or challenging emergency room error cases.
- We are award-winning Minneapolis litigators who have recovered more than $200 million in compensation for clients like you.
- Our lawyers can go up against powerful defendants, including major hospitals and health care providers in Minneapolis, in and out of the courtroom.
- You won’t pay your radiology error attorney anything unless you win your case. Goldenberg Lauricella, PLLC operates on a contingency fee basis, with $0 charged upfront.
Damages Available in Minnesota Medical Malpractice Cases
Fair financial compensation for a case of medical malpractice in Minneapolis can make it easier for a victim to rebuild and move forward. Available compensation may include:
- Related medical expenses
- Follow-up care or revision surgeries
- Long-term or permanent disability
- Scarring or disfigurement
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Out-of-pocket costs
- Wrongful death damages, if applicable
- Punitive damages, in rare cases
The value of an ER error claim in Minnesota will depend on the level of the victim’s injuries and how they impact the person. Fatal and catastrophic injuries can result in larger settlements due to a lifetime of related damages. An experienced medical malpractice lawyer from Goldenberg Lauricella, PLLC, can pursue maximum compensation for your emergency room error case.
What Qualifies as Emergency Room Malpractice in Minnesota?
Emergency room malpractice refers to health care professionals in an emergency department or trauma care setting providing a substandard (inadequate) level of care to patients. If emergency room staff perform at less than the accepted level of care for the medical industry, resulting in patient harm, it is recognized as the tort of malpractice.
Examples of emergency room malpractice include:
- Misdiagnosis
- Delayed diagnosis
- Failure to diagnose
- Triage mistakes
- Intubation errors
- Patient mix-ups
- Medication mistakes
- Premature discharge
- Failure to treat
- Infections caused by unsanitary conditions
Lapses in care and judgment in an emergency room in Minneapolis can be devastating to patients in need of treatment. If a reasonable and prudent medical practitioner or ER staff member would have behaved differently in the same or similar circumstances, it qualifies as medical malpractice.
Common ER Misdiagnosis and Treatment Errors
An emergency room is a high-stress and high-pressure environment by nature. ERs in Minneapolis may be overcrowded, short-staffed, disorganized, unsanitary and underfunded. These issues set the stage for stressed and burnt-out staff, with patient care potentially slipping below industry standards.
However, the people working in an ER still have a responsibility to treat patients with a high level of care. Anything less than the proper degree of care can lead to serious patient injuries and fatalities. Certain types of medical malpractice are more common than others in negligent emergency rooms.
Missed Signs of Heart Attack and Stroke
When a patient visits an emergency room in Minneapolis presenting the signs of a heart attack or stroke, these signs may be misconstrued or misinterpreted as a less serious condition by a negligent doctor. Some signs of heart attack and stroke mimic other problems, such as the flu, heartburn, panic attacks or lung conditions.
A misdiagnosis can be fatal, as the patient may not receive the medication or treatment he or she needs in time. Misdiagnosing an initial cardiovascular event can also increase the odds of a life-threatening second heart attack or stroke in the future.
Failure to Identify Sepsis and Deadly Infections
Failing to check for and promptly identify signs of infection in a patient can allow the issue to progress to a more severe level, such as sepsis, septic shock, organ failure and death. The initial symptoms of sepsis can look like the flu or milder infections, resulting in a misdiagnosis or failure to diagnose.
Delayed detection and treatment can be deadly in a case of sepsis, as it may not be possible to control or reverse the body’s serious adverse response after too much time has passed. This can ultimately result in organ failure and wrongful death.
Medication and Dosage Errors in High-Stress Environments
In a busy and crowded ER, flustered, tired or overworked practitioners can easily make medication mistakes that threaten the well-being of patients. Medications or patients may get mixed up, the patient’s medical history might not be thoroughly checked, or a patient may receive the incorrect dosage.
Medication errors in an emergency setting can be disastrous. Receiving the wrong drug or amount as a patient can lead to overdoses, allergic reactions or adverse drug interactions. In a high-stress environment, medication mistakes can occur due to fatigue, burnout, mental distraction, time pressure, understaffing or cognitive overload.
Who Is Liable for an Emergency Room Error?
When an emergency room error causes a patient injury, infection or death, financial compensation may be available to the injured victim or his or her family. One or more parties may be liable, or legally responsible, for a case of ER negligence. The liable party will depend on the circumstances, such as who is at fault for the mistake.
Possibilities include:
- The emergency room or trauma center
- An individual physician or nurse
- A nurse or physician’s assistant
- A staff member at the facility
- A medical device manufacturer
- A pharmaceutical company
Proving an emergency room malpractice claim in Minnesota requires evidence against the liable party/ies. There must be proof that the defendant(s) owed the patient a professional duty of care, breached or failed to meet this duty of care, and caused the patient’s harm. Multiple parties can share fault in Minnesota; however, each defendant will be liable only for their portion of fault.
Emergency room malpractice can have dire consequences for patients. Inadequate medical care in an emergency setting can lead to brain damage, cardiac failure, organ damage, serious ER-acquired infections, and death due to a lack of timely and proper care.
Contact Our Minneapolis Emergency Error Lawyers for a Free Consultation
If you’re visiting an emergency room in Minneapolis, you’re already in a difficult situation and in need of help. If you are then mistreated or your care is mishandled, you could face repercussions that you would not have experienced otherwise.
At Goldenberg Lauricella, PLLC, our lawyers are passionate about holding negligent health care professionals accountable. If you or a loved one was injured due to an emergency room error, contact us for a free case evaluation with a Minneapolis attorney who truly cares.
We are focused on helping our clients in every way possible during difficult times. Call (612) 333-4662 today to find out how we can assist you with an ER malpractice case.