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Medical Malpractice

Jury Awards Woman $755,000 in Emergency Room Medical Malpractice CasePosted on 5/16/2012
New Board Recommendations Important to Safety of Atlanta PatientsPosted on 5/9/2012
Are Georgia and U.S. Doctors Committing Medical Malpractice Online?Posted on 5/2/2012
Georgia and U.S. Nursing Homes’ Emergency Preparedness QuestionedPosted on 5/1/2012
Military Man Sues U.S. Government for Medical Malpractice DamagesPosted on 4/23/2012
“Doctors and Consumers Fight Unnecessary Testing”Posted on 4/18/2012
Could a New Diagnostic Tool Help Predict Heart Attacks and Save Lives?Posted on 4/9/2012
Important New Study Published on Most Common Childhood Leukemia, ALLPosted on 4/1/2012
Are Low Income Patients More Likely to Sue for Medical Malpractice?Posted on 3/19/2012
Are State Medical Boards Protecting the Public from Medical Malpractice?Posted on 3/9/2012

Can errors related to CVD occur in the emergency room?

A: Of the many ways errors can occur in the medical care of cardiovascular disease (CVD), mistakes often occur in the emergency room. Situations taking place in ERs are typically fast-paced and chaotic - the perfect recipe for an error. As difficult a job as ER physicians may have, the law does not typically hold them to a lower standard of care (compared with cardiologists) in the interpretation of EKGs and lab tests.

In one recent study of EKGs showing signs of cardiac ischemia that were read by ER physicians, retrospective review revealed an error rate of 28.9 percent. Other forms of CVD errors in the ER are possible, as well. If a patient who is suffering a myocardial infarction (heart attack) goes to a hospital that does not offer cardiac catheterization and/or open-heart surgery, the hospital has a duty to transport that patient to another hospital with those services as soon as the patient is stable.