Avoiding ER Errors
U.S. News & World Report has released its rankings of the best hospitals in America for 2018-19, evaluating more than 4,500 hospitals in the country across 16 specialties and nine procedures and conditions. In Connecticut, Yale-New Haven Hospital was ranked best in the state.
According to the ranking, here are the best hospitals in Connecticut:
- Yale-New Haven Hospital
- Hartford Hospital
- St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center
- Greenwich Hospital
- Stamford Hospital
- Danbury Hospital
- Middlesex Hospital
U.S. News uses two methodologies, one for procedures and conditions ratings and another for specialty rankings. The rankings are produced by U.S. News with research organization, RTI International. U.S. News says its methodologies in most areas of care are based largely or entirely on objective measures like risk-adjusted survival and readmission rates, volume, patient experience, patient safety and quality of nursing.
The specialties included in the rankings are:
- Cancer
- Cardiology and Heart Surgery
- Diabetes and Endocrinology
- Ear, Nose and Throat
- Gastroenterology and GI Surgery
- Geriatrics
- Gynecology
- Nephrology
- Neurology and Neurosurgery
- Ophthalmology
- Orthopedics
- Pulmonology
- Psychiatry
- Rehabilitation
- Rheumatology
- Urology
The procedures and conditions included in the rankings are:
- COPD
- Heart Bypass Surgery
- Heart Failure
- Hip Replacement
- Knee Replacement
- Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair
- Aortic Valve Surgery
- Colon Cancer Surgery
- Lung Cancer Surgery
Emergency Room Errors
Emergency room errors can result in injury, worsening of an existing medical condition, or death. Nearly half of all medical malpractice related injuries are caused by emergency room errors. When their negligence causes harm, we are here to help you obtain JUSTICE.
The need for emergency care normally means a sudden and potentially life-threatening health event has occurred. Death or serious illness during or following an emergency room visit does not always indicate emergency room error. Some visits to the emergency room will be unsuccessful, even with good care.
The emergency room setting is a very high-stress environment for doctors and other staff, making mistakes more likely to occur, however, that is no excuse for substandard care.
Common Emergency Room Errors Include:
- Failure to fully evaluate a patient
- Failure to fully treat a patient
- Failure to monitor a patient
- Delayed diagnosis, misdiagnosis, failure to diagnose
- Laboratory errors
- Medication errors
- Surgical errors
- Contaminated blood transfusions
- Negligence
- Delayed treatment
- Patient dumping
Diagnostic Error
A large portion of injuries and death caused by emergency room errors involve misdiagnosis, delayed diagnoses or failure to diagnose. Diagnostic errors can lead to delayed treatment or failure to treat, allowing conditions to worsen and in some cases create other, more serious, health problems. Medical conditions which are often involved in emergency room diagnostic errors include:
- Heart attack
- Stroke
- Pulmonary embolism
- Appendicitis
- Pancreatitis
A misdiagnosis can mean receiving an inappropriate and potentially harmful treatment. Delayed diagnoses can mean losing precious time during which irreversible damage can occur. Failure to diagnose often results in a patient being sent home without treatment, and can easily result in death.
Medication Errors
The damage caused by medication errors can range from no significant harm to death of a patient with a relatively minor original health problem. Medication errors in emergency rooms come in many forms including:
- Administration of the wrong medication
- Administration to the wrong patient
- Incorrect dose
- Medication inappropriate for condition
- Medication inappropriate for patient based on medical history
- Administration of pain medication to patients who are intoxicated
- Medication errors are often the result of misreading charts or labels.
Contact Us for a Free Consultation
If you or someone you know has been injured due to someone else’s negligence, call us to discuss your case with one of our experienced medical malpractice attorneys and get the JUSTICE you deserve. We represent clients statewide and handle all of our personal injury and medical malpractice cases on a contingency basis. There are no legal fees to pay unless we win.
