Occasionally ER patients can sue hospitals when ER doctors commit an act of negligence. For a doctor or a hospital to be the subject of a medical malpractice suit, the patient must prove that they did not receive the appropriate standard of care when they were injured. In an emergency room, standards of care are different and not quite as strict because of the emergency nature of the facility. Even with these more relaxed standards of care, that does not mean emergency room doctors and medical personnel cannot make mistakes.