Emergency rooms save countless lives every year, and the men and women who deliver the highest level of care in life-and-death situations deserve to be commended. But when some doctors, nurses, and other emergency room staff fail to live up to expectations, the consequences can be disastrous.

In the event of an emergency, you implicitly trust emergency room staff to provide the highest standards of care, and if a careless error has led to your being injured, you have a right to hold the negligent doctors, nurses, and staff members accountable for your damages..

The best way to learn about your rights and options after being injured due to an emergency room error is to speak with our attorneys at Golomb & Honik, P.C. in person. Call (215) 278-4449 today to schedule your free consultation at our Philadelphia office.

Emergency room errors are as diverse as the situations that patients and doctors face. From incorrect diagnoses to mixing up prescriptions, an error can occur at any step along the way. In short, if your health is compromised while in the care of emergency room staff, you may have a medical malpractice case. And as with all medical malpractice cases, a successful verdict rests upon three pillars.

The ER's Duty

Emergency rooms are chaotic and unpredictable, and patients who enter the ER are in life-and-death situations. That's why ER physicians are highly trained and accept as part of the job that they have a duty to provide the highest level of care possible.

When you are admitted to the emergency room, you are establishing a doctor-patient relationship. Implicit in this agreement is the understanding that doctors have a duty to act in your best interests and make decisions that conform to established standards of care.

A standard of care is simply a consensus among medical professionals as to how one should perform his or her job under given circumstances. While there's no authoritative "rule book" on every possible situation, experts in the field can offer testimony to determine a suitable standard for your case.

ER Breaches of Duty

Given that the ER has a duty to act in your best interests, and given an established standard of care, obtaining a successful medical malpractice verdict means demonstrating that emergency room staff breached their duty to provide adequate care. This usually involves expert witnesses who testify that protocols were breached and that the defendant acted carelessly.

Piecing together the specific sequence of events that caused the breach can be exceptionally complex and may require extensive research. That's why it pays to retain our medical malpractice attorneys at Golomb & Honik, P.C. as soon as possible.

Did you suffer damages due to breach of duty?

Finally, the medical professionals' breach of their duties must cause harm to the patient. While you might first think of physical injury, "harm" is a broad term and encompasses such damages as pain and suffering, lost wages, and loss of the ability to enjoy one's life. It also includes your medical costs and any additional treatments needed to correct the ER's negligence.

Medical malpractice cases are bound by certain statutes of limitations, so if you've been the victim of emergency room negligence, don't wait until it's too late to consult with the attorneys at Golomb & Honik.

Please contact Golomb & Honik, P.C. today at to arrange a complimentary case evaluation. We serve clients nationwide from our offices in Philadelphia.