Florida Misdiagnosis or Failure to Diagnose Lawyers

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

Doctor’s follow specific methods to diagnose disease.  The process is one of information gathering and identifying and eliminating possibilities.  A doctor who is 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 in a timely manner.   A doctor who failed to timely address an emergent condition or failed 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, PL 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.