Boston Emergency Room Errors Attorney

Worcester Hospital Negligence Lawyer

View Barry Lang's video on emergency room misdiagnosis or death

If you or a loved one have suffered due to misdiagnosis, mistreatment, or an emergency room error, you should be aware of your legal rights and options. Attorneys at the law office of Barry D. Lang, M.D. & Associates, are also doctors. In most cases, we can determine on the spot if you or a loved one has experienced medical malpractice. Our understanding of the medical and legal issues that overlap is a great benefit to clients dealing with an injury or the wrongful death of a loved one.

A Timely Consultation Is Critical

When a patient comes into an emergency room and the physician on staff cannot correctly diagnose and/or treat the medical issue, a medical consultant should be contacted immediately. The consultant - a specialist in the respective area of medicine - then performs tests and takes other actions to determine what treatment is necessary. When the emergency room doctor fails to order a timely consultation, the patient may not be treated, conditions may worsen, and devastating results may occur. A delay in evaluation or treatment in the emergency room can have devastating consequences.

Misdiagnosis

When a doctor fails to accurately diagnose a medical condition, a patient's condition may worsen and even become untreatable. If you have experienced misdiagnosis, contact a medical malpractice attorney as soon as possible. Some conditions that are commonly misdiagnosed are:

Heart Attack — Symptoms of a heart attack may be mistaken for other more benign problems, necessary testing is not done and patients are discharged only later to find out they have severe heart damage which could have been avoided with proper treatment.
Fractures — Orthopedic surgeons are trained to diagnose and treat broken bones. A missed diagnosis of a fracture may lead to complications that last a lifetime. Fractures set improperly may require additional surgery and result in long-term disability.
Brain Injury — Head injuries, even from minor accidents, may damage the brain and cause lifelong disability. Just because diagnostic studies like MRI or CT scans do not show a brain injury, does not mean that the brain wasn't damaged. Symptoms of brain injury may include memory loss, change in behavior or change in personality.
Infections - The misdiagnosis of an infection can have catastrophic results. Recovering from an infection is dependent on a timely diagnosis and prompt treatment. A delayed diagnosis or misdiagnosis can cause an infection to spread, causing serious injury and in some cases, death.

Did your doctor fail to diagnose cancer in time? Find out about failure to timely diagnose treatable cancer.

X-Ray Misdiagnosis and Negligence

X-rays are used not only for treatment, such as for some cancers, but for diagnosis of conditions such as tumors, fractures and the like. Sometimes, x-rays for diagnostic purposes are misread by the doctor or mislabeled by the technician or an important finding on an x-ray is not reported to your doctor who then fails to treat you properly for that problem.

Excessive use of x-ray for treatment may cause disfiguring burns or internal scarring. Physicians or other medical professionals may be responsible for these errors. There may be a technological problem with the machine itself by giving off too much radiation.

Injuries from misread x-rays or damage from x-ray treatment may be compensable.

Contact a Medical Malpractice Lawyer

To schedule a consultation with a Boston emergency room malpractice attorney, contact us by calling 617-720-0176 or toll free 800-LAWYERS. The consultation is free; the representation invaluable. In most cases, we can determine on the spot if you or a loved one has experienced medical malpractice.