Legal Assistance for Misdiagnosis or Failure to Diagnose and Treat Medical Conditions
Did a medical professional misdiagnose your condition or failed to diagnose a loved one’s condition? Our medical malpractice attorneys are here to help. Call us today for a free case evaluation.
- Content last updated on:
- August 24, 2023
Table of Contents
Failure to properly diagnose a condition is the most common cause of medical malpractice claims in the United States. Modern doctors have a professional obligation to use the wealth of knowledge and experience in the medical community to treat patients effectively and deliver accurate diagnoses. A large portion of the training doctors receive is in the scientific techniques to diagnose illness properly. Misdiagnosis cases arise when doctors fail to provide accurate diagnoses or delay diagnosis without appropriate justification. This can be quite harmful to patients where a disease progresses unchecked or where the wrong treatment causes harm.
Finding the Right Diagnosis
Doctors follow specific methods to diagnose diseases. The process is one of information gathering and identifying and eliminating possibilities. A doctor trying to identify a patient’s problem will develop a differential diagnosis list containing all the possible answers. A skillful and competent doctor will populate this list with all the possible diagnoses for the patient’s condition and use a process of elimination to find the correct diagnosis. All the while, a doctor will also gather more information and use various tests as needed.
A competent doctor will also address the items on the list that may need emergency attention promptly. A doctor who fails to timely address an emergent condition or fails to diagnose a condition that should be apparent to a competent doctor will likely be liable for the patient’s damages.
Suing For Misdiagnosis
Success in the lawsuit depends on the plaintiff’s attorney’s ability to prove the defendant’s negligence:
- The plaintiff needs to prove that the doctor was negligent, and that another reasonably skilled and competent doctor would have likely delivered a correct diagnosis in the same situation.
- The plaintiff needs to prove that harm was caused by the failure to diagnose. For example, if a doctor failed to diagnose cancer that would have been more treatable but for the fact the cancer progressed due to a delay caused by the failure to diagnose.
- The plaintiff also needs to show damages such as additional medical expenses, pain and suffering, permanent disability, lost income, reduced life expectancy, death, disability, and any other effects.
Medical malpractice lawsuits usually require significant evidence gathering, long depositions, coordination with expert witnesses, and countless other concerns. Victims of misdiagnoses in Florida can rely on the attorneys at Freedland Harwin Valori Gander for their legal concerns. Call our team to schedule a consultation. One of our lawyers will meet with you to discuss the details and let you know what type of compensation you could reasonably expect from a lawsuit.
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ALL FIELDS REQUIRED
- BIRTH TRAUMA
- EMERGENCY ROOM MISTAKES
- FAILURE TO DIAGNOSE OR MISDIAGNOSIS – CANCER
- FAILURE OR DELAY IN DIAGNOSIS OF SEPSIS
- FAILURE TO DIAGNOSE AND TREAT GESTATIONAL DIABETES
- FAILURE TO DIAGNOSE BREAST CANCER
- FAILURE TO DIAGNOSE HEART ATTACK
- FAILURE TO DIAGNOSE OR TREAT AORTIC DISSECTION
- FAILURE TO DIAGNOSE PNEUMONIA
- FAILURE TO DIAGNOSE PULMONARY EMBOLISM
- FAILURE TO TREAT STROKE
- HOSPITAL MALPRACTICE
- INTRAVENOUS INFILTRATION
- MEDICATION ERRORS
- MEDICATION OVERDOSE
- MISDIAGNOSIS
- NEGLIGENT FETAL MONITORING
- OB/GYN ERRORS
- PACU ERRORS
- PLASTIC SURGERY ERRORS
- PREOPERATIVE CLEARANCE ERROR
- RADIOLOGY ERRORS
- SPINE SURGERY MISTAKES
- SURGERY CENTER ERRORS
- SURGICAL ERRORS
CASE RESULTS
TESTIMONIALS
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