Misdiagnosis
Central Florida Medical Misdiagnosis Claims Lawyer
Chadwick & Chadwick handles medical misdiagnosis claims in the Tampa Bay metropolitan area, including Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco, Hernando, Polk, Manatee counties and in cities throughout west central Florida.
Diagnosis expectations
When your medical condition is correctly diagnosed, the chances of the best possible recovery are at their highest. It is obvious then, that when your condition isn’t diagnosed correctly, or is not diagnosed at all, the chances of your recovery or even your survival may be greatly reduced.
Like most Floridians you expect that when you turn to your doctor with a medical problem that this professional will be able to correctly diagnose and treat your condition. Unfortunately, doctors fail to make a proper diagnosis of their patients’ conditions at an alarming rate in our country.
A 2005 national study reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association, autopsy reports reveal that doctors are wrong about a patient’s diagnosis 10-15% of the time.
Misdiagnosis can lead to serious results
A medical misdiagnosis may have serious and potentially fatal health repercussions for you. Misdiagnosis can lead to improper treatment, and the pain and suffering that accompanies such unnecessary treatment.
Misdiagnosis may also mean that your real condition is left untreated, which can result in the unchecked progression of the true underlying disease. This can lead to serious health complications and even death.
If you or a loved one has been the victim of a medical misdiagnosis, you do not have to suffer in vain. It may be possible for you to obtain compensation for your medical expenses, your losses, and your suffering.
Our qualified medical misdiagnosis malpractice attorneys have experience in successfully protecting the interests of people like you in need, and can help see to it that you receive the help you need and deserve. Please contact Chadwick & Chadwick today for a free and confidential consultation of your misdiagnosis case. 813-264-1500.
Most common types of misdiagnosis
While virtually any condition has the potential to be misdiagnosed by a negligent doctor, some conditions are more commonly misdiagnosed than others.
- Cancer. The most frequently misdiagnosed condition in the U.S., according to a Harvard study of medical malpractice cases. Most likely caused from a failure of a doctor to follow proper screening protocols.
- Infection. This Harvard Medical study found that infection is the nation’s second most commonly misdiagnosed condition in hospitals and doctors offices. In addition, hospital errors are also known to cause infections in patients, killing 270 people daily.
- Heart Attack. Heart attacks often have vague symptoms that a doctor can easily misdiagnose, including nausea, general discomfort and fullness in the chest. Studies have found that women are more likely than men to have a heart attack misdiagnosis.
- Aortic dissection. While the symptoms of aortic dissection are often easy to diagnose, some patients with more vague symptoms are at risk of being misdiagnosed by their doctors. This situation contributed to the death of actor John Ritter.
- Clogged arteries. Coronary artery disease and atherosclerosis are commonly misdiagnosed, which can lead to the progression of serious diseases and cause undue injury and suffering to patients.
Misdiagnosis proof
When a doctor’s diagnosis error leads to incorrect treatment, delayed treatment, or no treatment at all, your condition may be made much worse, or even die. However, a mistake in diagnosis by itself is not enough to sustain a medical malpractice lawsuit.
Florida law does not hold doctors legally responsible for all diagnostic errors. Instead, most often you must prove three things in order to prevail in a medical misdiagnosis malpractice lawsuit based on a wrong diagnosis:
- A doctor-patient relationship existed.
- The doctor was negligent – that is, did not provide treatment in a reasonably skillful and competent manner.
- The doctor’s negligence caused actual injury to the patient.
Most medical malpractice cases hinge on either the second or third element (or both) — was the doctor negligent and did that negligence harm the patient?
Was the Doctor Negligent?
A misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis itself is not evidence of negligence. Skillful doctors can and do make diagnostic errors even when using reasonable care. The key is determining whether the doctor acted competently.
Were there Errors in the Diagnostic Tests?
At times a doctors fail to correctly diagnosis a condition because they rely on inaccurate results from laboratory tests, radiology films, or other types of tests. Although the doctor might not be liable for medical misdiagnosis, another person might be – such as the technician that misread a pathology slide.
Did the Misdiagnosis Harm the Patient?
You must also prove that the doctor’s negligent misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis caused your injury or condition to progress beyond where it normally would have been had the correct diagnose been made.
These questions and other issues greatly impact your future. If you believe that you or a loved one has suffered due to the failure of a physician or other medical professional to diagnose your condition, call Chadwick & Chadwick at the Tampa Bay office, 813-264-1500.
Our lawyers can review your medical records thoroughly in order to conclude whether any wrongdoing on the part of a doctor or other medical professional occurred, and help you obtain the financial compensation you and your family deserves. Call for more information today.
