Most people go to the emergency room because something feels wrong, trusting the medical team to act fast and get it right. Missing a serious condition, delaying treatment, or sending someone home too early can quickly erode trust in emergency care.
Emergency care may be considered malpractice when it falls short and causes preventable harm. In Maryland, patients can sue when medical providers fail to meet established standards.
Bringing an emergency room malpractice claim depends on what care the doctor provided, what they missed, and whether proper treatment could have led to a better outcome.
What Counts As Emergency Room Malpractice?
Emergency rooms operate under pressure, but healthcare providers, including doctors, nurses, and hospital staff, are still required to meet accepted standards of care. They must make timely decisions and use reasonable skill and judgment when treating patients.
If a provider fails to meet that standard and harms the patient, malpractice may have occurred.
Common examples include:
- Failing to diagnose a heart attack or other life-threatening condition,
- Discharging a patient with unresolved symptoms,
- Giving the wrong medication or the wrong dosage,
- Delaying treatment for serious injuries,
- Failing to order the proper tests, or
- Ignoring lab or imaging results.
To bring an emergency room malpractice claim in Maryland, the patient must show that the provider’s care fell below professional medical standards and directly caused their injury.
Do Emergency Room Malpractice Cases Work the Same as Other Malpractice Claims?
The two are similar in many ways, but emergency room malpractice cases tend to involve multiple providers or systems of care. For example, a nurse might miss an urgent symptom while taking vitals, a doctor could misread an imaging scan, and the hospital may contribute by understaffing the emergency department. When these breakdowns happen together, they can compound the harm.
Unlike some malpractice claims, ER negligence cases sometimes involve shared responsibility and require close review of every decision made during the visit.
To support the claim, lawyers and experts carefully examine ER records, such as triage notes, vital signs, lab orders, discharge instructions, and treatment decisions. These records help determine whether earlier or more accurate care could have changed the outcome.
When Can You Sue an Emergency Room for Negligence in Maryland?
To move forward with an emergency room negligence claim in Maryland, a patient must establish four key legal elements:
- A medical provider-patient relationship existed,
- The provider owed a duty to deliver care that met professional standards,
- That duty was breached through negligence or errors in judgment, and
- The breach directly caused an injury or made the condition worse.
These requirements apply whether the issue involved a delayed diagnosis, a medication error, premature discharge, or failure to act on warning signs.
In some cases, an individual provider may be responsible. The hospital may also be part of the claim, particularly if policies, staffing, or supervision failed to meet required standards.
What Emergency Room Malpractice Looks Like
Medical decisions in the emergency room happen quickly but are later reviewed differently. Experts evaluating a claim will focus on the records and whether providers followed accepted procedures based on the information they had at the time.
Errors in judgment, ignoring key symptoms, or delays in testing can all contribute to preventable complications. Emergency providers must act quickly while delivering competent, responsible care. When either side of that balance breaks down, serious medical concerns can escalate unnecessarily.
What Is the Deadline for Filing Emergency Room Malpractice Cases?
Maryland places a strict time limit on filing malpractice claims, including those involving hospital emergency rooms. Your case must be filed within three years of discovering the injury or five years from the date of the injury, whichever is earlier. The statute of limitations for minors does not begin to run until they turn 18, and they have three years to file their claim after their 18th birthday.
In addition, the state requires a Certificate of Qualified Expert within 90 days of filing a claim. This must come from an expert practicing in the same or similar field and must confirm that the care in question did not meet acceptable medical standards and that the negligent care caused injury.
Missing a deadline or failing to file the required certificate can result in the court dismissing the case before it moves forward.
Talk to a Maryland Lawyer About Emergency Room Malpractice
Hospitals often defend emergency room malpractice cases by arguing that symptoms were too subtle, a diagnosis was not yet possible, or the provider acted reasonably under pressure. Medical records that reveal missed warning signs or subpar care give patients the right to pursue accountability under Maryland law.
Wondering can you sue an emergency room for negligence? Our emergency room malpractice lawyers can evaluate your case and let you know if the law supports a claim.
At Brockstedt Mandalas Federico, we’ve spent decades representing clients in complex medical malpractice cases across Maryland. Our attorneys have handled high-stakes claims involving emergency care, and we’ve secured some of the largest verdicts and settlements in the region.
If you believe emergency room errors led to harm, contact us to discuss your next steps.
Phil Federico is a partner at Brockstedt Mandalas Federico where he helps lead the Mass Tort / Class Action and Environmental Law practices, transitioning into these areas after beginning his career as a medical malpractice litigator.
Phil has led and been involved in historic and groundbreaking litigation with verdicts and settlements exceeding one billion dollars.
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