You can Receive Compensation for Your Doctor’s Failure to Diagnose
Treating or curing a disease or injury is only half of a healthcare provider’s battle. The first half is the diagnosis of what that healthcare provider and patient will be fighting. This diagnosis of a disease, injury, condition, etc. is what will set the pace for the treatment and medical care to come.
In the event that a doctor misdiagnoses, inadequately diagnoses, or simply fails to diagnose whatever ails a patient, then they may be liable for medical malpractice in certain circumstances. If your doctor’s misdiagnosis led to the development of medical complications, then you may be eligible to receive compensation for damages sustained because of your injury.
Ways a Diagnosis Can Go Wrong
Its surprisingly (not to mention disturbingly) often that healthcare providers mess up a diagnosis of a patient’s injury or health issue. One of the most common things to happen is that whatever is ailing the patient is misdiagnosed as something else. Other times a doctor might outright fail to diagnose something entirely. In other cases, the diagnosis may have the right disease or injury but not accurately determine how serious it is.
All of these situations have the potential to cause great harm to a patient because they could not receive treatment, receive treatment for misdiagnosed health problem that could cause complications, or they could not get the right amount of treatment.
Misdiagnosis and Negligence in a Malpractice Claim
It is important to clarify that just because a doctor misdiagnoses, does not mean that they liable for malpractice and you can sue them. In order to sue a doctor for medical malpractice, there has to be something that you need to be seeking compensation for like an injury, or loss of wages, etc. and it has to be significant enough to warrant legal action.
Also, the doctor has to be proven negligent. That means that it needs to be proven that the doctor did not provide the standard of care expected of them. For example, if a doctor fails to call for something like an MRI scan when it is usually expected and the failure to perform this test causes a problem to be overlooked that injures a patient down the line, then that would constitute as medical malpractice due to failure to diagnose.
In addition to this, it needs to be shown that the doctor’s negligence directly contributed to the injury suffered by the patient. Just because a doctor did not diagnose or missed something, doesn’t always mean that their misdiagnosis is what caused the injury. So you cannot sue for malpractice if a doctor missed a tumor in your leg and you have a separate heart injury.
Failure to Diagnose Cancer and Tumors
A little under 40% of men and women in the United States will be diagnosed with some form of cancer. With such a high percentage of possible cases of cancer, healthcare providers have developed a series of tests to help screen patients for any early signs of developing cancer in order to give patients the best chance to combat one of the most terrible afflictions.
In order to catch cancer early on, doctors will use tests such as mammograms, prostate exams, pap smears, colonoscopies, and assorted blood tests to seek signs of early cancer development. These tests become fairly routine and essential for certain patient demographics that are at high risk. Neglecting to perform screenings or perform them properly can be considered medical malpractice.
When a test that could have caught early stage cancer is delayed, done incorrectly, or not performed at all, then the effectiveness of treatment decreases every day the cancer grows unchecked. Some patients find out that their chances of effective cancer treatment would have been doubled if their cancer was diagnosed at their previous yearly checkup.
Failure to Diagnose Strokes
A stroke is a disruption of the blood flow in a blood vessel to the brain. This will usually result in an emergency situation where the brain is deprived oxygen and brain cells begin to die. It is imperative that anyone suffering from a stroke is given immediate emergency care. This means that a doctor is responsible for diagnosing and treating a stroke as soon as possible and that the failure to do so can result in permanent damage and sometimes death.
Radiological Errors Can be Medical Malpractice
Radiology is the science of medical imaging practices and devices that assist in the diagnosis of diseases. Medical tests such as MRI’s, CAT scans, X-rays, ultrasounds, are all thanks to radiology and the radiologists that usually operate the machines necessary for these tests. Naturally this can play a very large part in many medical malpractice cases.
While the machines necessary for these radiological tests are typically very accurate, the humans responsible for interpreting their results are capable of error. When a radiologist or a doctor misses something in a radiological test or when a necessary radiological test is not carried out when it should be, then a patient can suffer unnecessary injury. These kinds of injuries are the product of a healthcare provider’s negligence and therefore a patient who has suffered these kinds of injuries has the right to seek compensation from those responsible with a medical malpractice claim.
Seek an Experienced Florida Medical Malpractice Lawyer
If you or a loved believe negligence in the form of misdiagnosis contributed to the development of a health condition, then do not hesitate to contact Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA about receiving a free consultation on your claim.
We serve all of Florida with emphasis on locations such as : Clearwater, St. Petersburg, New Port Richey, Sarasota, Miami, Doral, North Miami Beach, Aventura, Ft. Lauderdale and Boca Raton. No matter where, our lawyers will sit down with you to discuss your options for getting you the compensation that you deserve.
Contact us at Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA’s offices. Please call us at 727-451-6900.
Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA
800 North Belcher Road
Clearwater, FL 33765
727-451-6900
