Emergency Medicine Expert Witnesses
Find the right expert to get to the bottom of ER malpractice
Emergency medicine is the medical specialty that deals with acute illnesses and injuries that require immediate medical attention. Emergency medical physicians diagnose illnesses and undertake acute interventions to stabilize patients. They work in hospital emergency departments, pre-hospital settings, and intensive care units.
To become a Board-Certified emergency medicine doctor in the United States, physicians must complete four years of medical school and a three- to four-year residency in emergency medicine. During residency, doctors receive extensive training in emergency medical care, trauma management, critical care, and other aspects of emergency medicine.
Emergency medicine draws skills from many medical specialties, from managing difficult airways, resuscitating patients, setting fractured bones, and placing chest tubes. In addition, emergency physicians need to rapidly interpret test results and make quick decisions to stabilize patients and potentially save lives.
What is emergency room malpractice?
Emergency room malpractice can have potentially deadly consequences for patients. Some examples of malpractice by an emergency medicine doctor include:
- Delayed diagnosis or misdiagnosis, such as diagnosing the cause of chest pain as acid reflux instead of a heart attack
- Misreading test results such as CT scans
- Failure to monitor a patient’s vital signs during emergency treatment
- Discharging a patient from the emergency department before their condition has stabilized
- Giving inadequate discharge instructions or failing to communicate with other specialists
A qualified, Board-Certified emergency room doctor can explain the standards of care that apply to emergency medicine and offer their professional opinion on whether those standards were met.
Talk to an emergency medicine expert about your potential case
Medical malpractice cases involving emergency medicine tend to be highly fraught and have high stakes. Emergency medicine requires high standards of care because of the often life-threatening circumstances. The right expert witness can make all the difference. If you’re considering a malpractice case involving emergency medicine, contact us today for a free case summary review.