Typically when you go to the emergency room, you’re at your most vulnerable and need help. When a doctor makes a mistake or leaves you alone for too long, you might end up falling and injuring yourself in your room. When this happens and it wasn’t your fault, you’ll likely want to recover damages for the hurt that you’ve suffered.
Depending on the situation, you could use the help of a medical malpractice lawyer to represent you and defend your rights. At Golden Law Office, we understand that this is a stressful and confusing time in your life. That’s why we’re here to support you through your legal claim so you can focus on what really matters—healing.
Let’s take a look at the different scenarios when you can seek damages for emergency room fall injuries.
When Is a Fall Considered Medical Malpractice?
There are some instances where falling in an emergency room could be a result of medical malpractice. The medical professionals in the ER are expected to quickly and accurately assess what is ailing you so they can start treatment promptly. When they don’t do this or make mistakes in the process that put you at risk for a fall, it could be considered medical malpractice on their end.
Here are some specific scenarios that might cause you to fall and get injured that could warrant a med mal claim:
- Overmedication. After being admitted into the emergency room, a doctor might prescribe and administer drugs to treat you. If they don’t properly screen you for what you already take, the medications they give you could interact and cause a reaction that lead you to falling. Or if they prescribe you too many drugs that interact with each other and make you excessively tired or weak then you could fall as well.
- Missed Diagnosis. Since you’re in the emergency room, it’s assumed that whatever is ailing you is an emergency and needs to be diagnosed quickly and correctly so treatment can start right away. A missed diagnosis or misdiagnosis could cause you to be treated for a sickness or injury that isn’t correct, and those treatments could either cause you to fall because they’re not right for your body, or you could fall because your sickness is still ailing you and hasn’t been treated.
- Not Labeled Fall Risk. When you arrive at the emergency room and they admit you, they could label you as a fall risk if they assess that you could fall easily. If they fail to do this when you were obviously a fall risk, then this could be considered medical malpractice if you do fall and get hurt.
When Is a Fall Caused by Negligence?
A fall that injures you in the emergency room isn’t always the result of medical malpractice. Sometimes it can also be considered the result of negligence, which could also warrant you seeking damages for your injuries. It’s possible that a hospital staff member was negligent in their job, but not in a medical way, and it caused you to slip and fall in the emergency room.
For example, if a hospital employee mopped the floors and they did not dry before you came into the room, and there was no sign warning you of the wet floor, and you slipped and fell, then you could seek damages for your injuries.
The hospital has a duty to keep their property safe for visitors, so if the premises isn’t reasonably safe and leads to you falling, it could be their fault that you were injured. This can all seem complicated. That’s why having a lawyer on your side to answer all your questions and support you through the process can be beneficial.
Golden Law Office Can Represent You
If you don’t see what happened to you that led to your fall mentioned, it’s still possible that you could seek damages from the hospital or medical professional who was at fault for your accident. Whether you suspect it was medical malpractice or ordinary negligence that led to your fall, you could use the help of an attorney from our firm.
At Golden Law Office in Kentucky, we know that it can be intimidating to file a legal claim when you’re not sure if your injury qualifies. With the help of one of our lawyers, we can determine if your fall was caused by another person’s negligence and help you get full and fair compensation for the damages you suffered. Contact us today so we can discuss your potential claim and start seeking justice for you right away.
