Your situation warranted a visit to the emergency room, or at least you thought it did due to your medical condition. However, once you were seen by the on-call staff in the hospital's emergency room department, they pretty much treated you like you had no reason to take up their time and sent you on your way. The staff in an emergency department have a legal liability to make sure patients are ok when they are released to go home. If something happens to you after you leave and you become iller or are severely injured, you may have a medical malpractice case on your hands. Here are a few scenarios that could warrant a medical malpractice claim after being sent home from the hospital's ER.
You went in due to stroke symptoms and had a stroke once you left.
People are consistently reminded to be alert to signs of a stroke, so if you are at risk and feel like you have some symptoms, going to the emergency room is the best plan of action. If the attending doctor in the ER does not take your symptoms seriously and do the proper tests, this could be deemed medical malpractice if you later have a stroke after leaving. Your concerns should be taken seriously enough that your symptoms are thoroughly investigated.
You had a swollen, feverish area, were sent away, and found out you have blood poisoning.
A swollen and feverish area on your body is usually a sign of infection. Perhaps a doctor took one look at your problem, did no testing, and sent you home due to a superficial skin irritation. By the time you got home, you were vomiting, had a high fever, and felt like passing out. Blood poisoning is common if you have an infection so bad that it spreads to the bloodstream. If the doctor had given the proper tests, they could have properly diagnosed you.
You went into labor but the hospital sent you home where you delivered alone.
Believe it or not, overcrowded hospitals are sometimes too quick to dismiss even a woman who is in full-blown labor. If this happened to you and you were forced to deliver at home because of it, you may have a right to sue for medical malpractice. This is especially true if you or your baby suffered injuries due to not having the proper medical care present.
For more information, contact a local medical malpractice lawyer.
