Sent Home From the ER? When a Missed Pulmonary Embolism May Be Malpractice

A pulmonary embolism occurs when a blood clot moves to the lungs and blocks blood flow. If you were sent home before a missed pulmonary embolism diagnosis, that alone does not prove malpractice. You may have a claim if your symptoms, risk factors, vital signs, or test results should have led to more evaluation, and the delay caused harm.

Why Can a Pulmonary Embolism Be Missed in the ER?

A pulmonary embolism can seem like anxiety, pneumonia, a heart issue, reflux, or muscle pain. You might notice chest pain, shortness of breath, dizziness, a rapid heartbeat, or fainting. These symptoms can signal several different conditions.

Emergency clinicians need to look at your symptoms, medical history, and clotting risks as a whole. Guidelines for suspected pulmonary embolism explain how risk assessment, D-dimer blood tests, and imaging are used based on the chance of a clot. A review checks whether the team recognized your risk and took the right steps. Deciding on a CT scan is just one part of the process.

What Evidence Can Show What Happened?

If the ER sent you home before diagnosing a blood clot, your medical records can help show what happened. A lawyer and medical expert may review:

• Triage notes, symptoms, and vital signs
• Recent surgery, immobility, pregnancy, cancer, hormone use, or prior clots
• Blood tests, imaging, and the provider’s documented reasoning
• Discharge instructions and return precautions
• Records from the later pulmonary embolism diagnosis

These records help show what the emergency team knew, what actions they took, and how quickly your condition changed. While these records alone don’t prove negligence, they can reveal whether a pulmonary embolism misdiagnosis led to harm that could have been avoided.

Does Georgia Treat Emergency Room Malpractice Differently?

Certain Georgia emergency room malpractice claims face a higher legal threshold. Under Georgia’s standard for certain emergency medical malpractice claims, a patient may need to prove gross negligence by clear and convincing evidence when the care qualifies as emergency medical care.

The standard can depend on when treatment occurred, whether you were stabilized, and the circumstances surrounding the discharge. An experienced malpractice lawyer can determine which standard applies and evaluate the case using your medical records, expert review, and the harm caused by the delay.

When Should You Ask a Malpractice Lawyer to Review the Case?

Consider a legal review if you returned to the hospital soon after discharge and doctors diagnosed a pulmonary embolism, your symptoms got worse quickly, your records show abnormal findings or known clot risks, or the delay led to serious injury or death.

Moriarty Injury Lawyer handles pulmonary embolism misdiagnosis cases for individuals and families in Georgia. Daniel Moriarty spent six years defending doctors, nurses, and hospitals in malpractice cases before representing injured patients and families. That experience helps our firm identify the records, medical questions, and expert opinions that can shape your claim.

If you or a family member was sent home from the ER and later diagnosed with a blood clot, contact Moriarty Injury Lawyer. We’ll review your emergency room records, later diagnosis, and the Georgia legal standard to determine whether the facts support a medical malpractice claim.