Emergency Room, Misdiagnosis or Death

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.

X-Rays

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.

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.

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.

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

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 life-long 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.