At Bertoldo Carter Smith & Cullen, our medical malpractice attorneys in Las Vegas, NV understand that emergency room visits can be a traumatic experience. The wait times, the seemingly indifferent responses from the staff, starting with the check-in process through the actual assessment, can lend a cold, uncaring posture that jars patients into believing they are not receiving proper care.
The truth is, emergency department personnel are trained to act with precision, using their medical education, experience, and instincts to maintain priorities throughout their shifts to ensure everyone receives the proper care – not compassion. The problem is, not everyone is getting the exceptional advice and quality care they need to ensure their ailments, complaints, and emergency medical needs are attended to properly. When the latter occurs, patients could be enduring emergency room negligence, also known as medical malpractice.
Emergency Room Statistics in the United States and Nevada
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are over three million people who live in the State of Nevada, with over 75% of the population in Clark County, and nearly 633,000 calling Las Vegas home. Our residents – not unlike the rest of the country – will have occasion to visit emergency departments throughout the state in times of need.
The Centers for Disease Control records the latest emergency department statistics, and lists that last year alone in the United States’ emergency rooms there were:
- 141.4 million visits
- 40 million injury-related visits
- 45.1 visits per 100 people
- 11.2 visits requiring hospital admission
- 1.8 visits requiring admission to a critical care unit
- In Nevada: 333 per 1000 residents visited community hospital emergency rooms
Common Causes for Emergency Room Negligence in Las Vegas, NV
There is no excuse for medical malpractice. Unfortunately, that does not keep it from happening around the country, or from effecting Las Vegas, NV residents directly when they seek care.
The most common causes for emergency room negligence can include:
- Overworked staff, including medical assistants, nurses, and doctors
- Overcrowding, and excessive wait times
- Physician failure to monitor or treat patients with urgency
- Failing to run the proper tests or x-rays to provide the proper care
- Failing to provide proper instructions for patient care
- Misdiagnosis of more significant ailments, including cancer or diabetes
- Failing to recognize symptoms of a heart attack, stroke, or severe medical issue
- Improper communication with medical staff and healthcare providers
- Failing to refer a patient to a specialist to receive optimal care
- Supplying the wrong prescription, leading to medication errors or dangerous interactions
Each of these negligent acts – or failures to act – can cause serious injuries or illnesses to become life-threatening. Even minor ailments, including flu-like symptoms or fevers, can be initial reactions to a much larger physical malady that can become severe when medical professionals fail in making the proper diagnosis.
The American College of Emergency Physicians conducted a study that found disturbing trends in hospitalization tactics called “boarding” where admitted patients are kept in stretchers in hospital emergency departments for hours, directly effecting their mortality rate.
The study found that in boarded patients:
- Death rates grew from 2.5% in patients who were boarded for less than two hours to 4.5% in those who were boarded for 12 or more hours
- Hospital length-of-stay increased with each prolonged boarding time
This study confirms that emergency room overcrowding is a life or death matter.
It is important to understand that these cases involve complex liability issues that our Las Vegas medical malpractice attorneys are adept at handling. We will fully research your claim and build a convincing case to pursue justice for you and your family.
Contact Our Medical Malpractice Attorneys in Las Vegas, NV Today for a Free Consultation
If you are suffering from emergency room negligence, and your condition has worsened as a result, contact the accomplished Las Vegas personal injury attorneys at Bertoldo Carter Smith & Cullen today at (702) 505-8115 to schedule a free consultation. We will provide the guidance you need to understand your case, the legal next steps, and how, together, we can achieve results by holding the negligent party responsible for your condition. Call us now to get started.