The emergency room is usually a busy place at any point during the day or night. With dozens of people walking in for care or being brought in via ambulance, mistakes are bound to happen. Despite the emergency room being overrun with patients, doctors and nurses are still required to provide a certain level of care for everyone. Let’s look at mistakes that lead to emergency room misdiagnoses.
One of the most common causes for emergency room misdiagnoses is beind admitted to the hospital alone and unconscious. The doctors and nurses might not be able to identify you, leading to the administration of the wrong medications or sending you to the wrong department for testing.
Another cause of misdiagnoses in the emergency room is is having an incomplete chart or one that is accidentally switched with another patient’s. This can cause the medical professionals to provide the wrong type of care and even discharge you from the hospital before correctly diagnosing you.
If your medication list is incomplete, or you don’t have it with you when you arrive at the emergency room, this can cause serious problems. An incomplete medication list can lead to you suffering an overdose or an allergic reaction to the drugs administered by the staff.
Emergency room misdiagnoses can lead to more serious injuries or illnesses. You have the right to file a claim against a doctor or hospital for being misdiagnosed in the emergency room, especially if it leads to you suffering a more serious injury or if you are diagnosed with a serious illness after seeking a second opinion.