There are more than 100,000,000 emergency room visits every year. Approximately 1/3 of the visits are due to an obvious injury. The balance of patients present to the emergency room with symptoms caused by an unknown problem. On average, emergency room patients wait forty-five (45) minutes to see a doctor after arrival in an emergency room. Most emergency room stays last just under three (3) hours.
Most emergency rooms are staffed with emergency medicine doctors. An emergency medicine physician is a doctor with at least three (3) years of specialized training in emergency medicine. Some emergency room doctors also have sub-specialty certification in medical toxicology, pediatric emergency medicine, sports medicine, hyperbaric medicine and hospice care. A recent study reports that the median salary for emergency medicine doctors is just over $267,000.00.
The most common symptoms noted on presentation to an emergency room are fever, fatigue and pain. These symptoms, while common, are often overlooked or ignored by busy emergency room doctors, who:
- fail to diagnose a heart attack by mistaking angina for shoulder pain;
- fail to diagnose a stroke by mistaking a sentinel headache for a migraine; or
- fail to diagnose a bowel perforation by mistaking a bowel obstruction for indigestion.
The trial lawyers at Bottar Law, PLLC, have decades of experience investigating, prosecuting and trying to verdict medical malpractice cases due to or arising out of emergency medicine malpractice. If you or a loved one experienced a problem during or after a visit to an ER, you and your family may be entitled to compensation for lifelong health care, medical expenses, medical bills, loss of income, and pain and suffering.
To discuss your case or concerns with an experienced Central New York medical malpractice and birth injury attorney, contact us now at (315) 933-4448, or by e-mail at info@bottarleone.com.
Syracuse Medical Malpractice Lawyer Blog – Emergency Room Errors
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