At Munley, Munley & Cartwright, our goal is to provide exceptional legal services to our clients. We strive to achieve the highest standard of excellence for the protection of individual rights through teamwork and the use of our considerable resources and experience. Whether we’re gathering evidence, giving advice, or talking with insurance companies, we are always your representative.

Emergency rooms, by definition, can be frantic places. They are bound to have a higher than normal rate of error. In fact, it has been estimated that 8 percent of heart attack victims are sent home with the wrong diagnosis. In 2001, there were 2,063 documented emergency room medication errors across the country, with almost 8 percent causing personal injury to the patient.

In June 2006, the Institute of Medicine concluded in three separate reports that emergency medical care in the United States is on the verge of collapse, with the nation’s declining number of emergency rooms dangerously overcrowded and often unable to provide the expertise needed to treat seriously ill people in a safe and efficient manner.

According to the reports, from 1993 to 2003, the U.S. population grew by 12 percent but emergency room visits grew by 27 percent, from 90 million to 114 million. In that same period, however, 425 emergency departments closed, along with about 700 hospitals and nearly 200,000 beds.

At Munley, Munley and Cartwright, we want to do our part to put an end to emergency room misdiagnosis by informing the public of these important statistics and filing claims and suits against the medical practitioners at fault.

When patients first arrive to a hospital emergency department, they are first evaluated by triage personnel, usually a registered nurse. This evaluation will usually determine where and when the patient will be seen. Patients evaluated as having a minor injury or condition will likely be referred to the fast track or other similar area of the emergency department. If the triage nurse wrongly assesses the patient, there may be a significant delay in diagnosis and treatment. In the fast track section of the emergency department, patients are typically seen on a first come, first served basis.

Patients with obvious severe or serious conditions are referred elsewhere in the emergency department, where they are more likely to be seen initially by a physician, although a physician assistant may also see patients in this area.

A misdiagnosis can occur at any state of the emergency room visit. It could result from an incorrect initial assessment, leading to a delay in diagnosis or treatment; a failure to recognize the condition bringing the patient to the emergency room; a failure to obtain appropriate diagnostic tests; a failure to obtain a consultation from an appropriate specialist or a failure to refer the patient to an appropriate specialist; or prescribing an incorrect medication.

Common diseases that are frequently misdiagnosed are:

• Breast Cancer
• Tuberculosis
• Lung Cancer
• Diabetes
• Prostate Cancer
• Cervical Cancer
• Ovarian Cancer
• Testicular Cancer
• Acute Myocardial Infarction (Heart Attack)
• Strokes
• Pulmonary Embolism
• Bacterial Meningitis
• Appendicitis

Many of these conditions are life threatening if the physician or other health care provider fails to consider them in making a diagnosis.

If you received the wrong diagnosis in the emergency room, contact Munley, Munley & Cartwright. Our goal is to provide exceptional legal services to our clients. We strive to achieve the highest standard of excellence for the protection of individual rights through team work and the use of our considerable resources and experience.