Medical malpractice is a legal term that refers to instances when a healthcare provider fails to provide care within the accepted standards and this failure results in harm to a patient. One common and serious form of malpractice is “failure to diagnose,” where a medical professional fails to identify a condition, leading to significant patient harm.
What does “failure to diagnose” mean?
“Failure to diagnose” refers to a situation where a healthcare provider misses a medical condition that they should have detected. This differs from misdiagnosis, where a medical professional incorrectly identifies the condition, or delayed diagnosis, where the condition is identified later than it should have been. For example, a doctor might overlook symptoms of cancer, resulting in a failure to diagnose.
What are some common causes of a failure to diagnose?
Several factors can lead to a failure to diagnose, including:
- Inadequate patient evaluation
- Misreading test results
- Failure to order necessary tests
- Poor communication among medical staff
These issues can result in missed diagnoses, as the medical team will not have critical information, preventing timely and accurate identification of a condition.
What are the potential consequences for patients?
Failure to diagnose can have severe consequences for patients, such as a worsening of the condition, missed treatment opportunities, increased medical costs, and emotional distress. This can occur when a patient whose cancer goes undiagnosed faces advanced disease progression, leading to more aggressive treatment and higher costs or the symptoms from a failure to diagnose a stroke and the patient suffers serious complications like brain damage.
What should I do if I am a victim of a failure to diagnose case?
If you believe you or a loved one is the victim of a failure to diagnose, it is important to seek a second medical opinion. It is also wise to consider reaching out to a medical malpractice attorney with experience in this type of case. To prove a failure to diagnose case, the victim must establish following legal elements:
- Existence of a patient-doctor relationship
- Negligence, meaning the healthcare provider did not meet the accepted standard of care
- A direct link between the failure and patient harm
Medical records and expert testimony are important in these cases. Act quickly, as legal time limits, known as statutes of limitations, may apply to your case.