Medical Malpractice In The Form Of Misdiagnosis

Misdiagnosis

Patients may live for years without knowing they are ill and before symptoms manifest.  This is why preventative care is so important.  Patients should have regularly scheduled exams that check heart health, blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar levels, and for the signs of cancer so that illness is detected early.

While patients may be diligent in regard to their medical care, sometimes medical providers fail to diagnose a patient’s illness or fail to properly diagnose a patient.  These types of failures may worsen a patients overall health and chances for maximum health recovery.  At its worst, misdiagnoses and failures to diagnose may lead to a patient’s death.

Experienced Kingston medical malpractice attorneys have seen these types of cases before.  They know how to review a client’s case and where to look, making sure that you were not injured from a misdiagnosis.

Common forms of misdiagnoses relate to improperly diagnosing infections, pneumonia, diabetes, breast cancer, appendicitis, lung cancer, fatigue, depression, anxiety, asthma, lupus, among others.

Medical providers have a duty to treat you properly and in accordance with medical standards.  These standards will vary depending on locality and area of medical specialization, and must be proved by expert testimony.

Just like any negligence case, your attorney will prove that the medical provider owed you a duty, breached his/her duty to you, that the breach proximately caused your injuries, and that you suffered compensable damages.

After ensuring that there actually was a doctor/patient relationship that gave rise to duty, your attorney will review your medical records with your consent.  You should know that patients have a right to access their medical records.  Moreover, medical professionals must document everything done in regard to your treatment.

Medical treatment, while sometimes partially covered by insurance, may still have burdened you with paying the balance.  Money spent visiting a physician, hospital, or surgeon, the costs of prescriptions, a decrease in your earning potential, and the money you have lost from missing work can be recovered at trial.  If your medical provider’s misdiagnosis was particularly egregious, you may even be able to recover money in excess of compensatory damages which comes in the form of punitive damages.

While a misdiagnosis may have occurred a long time in the past, if your doctor has continued to treat you for the same ailment, the statute of limitations will not begin to run until the last date on which you saw your doctor.

If you fear that your health has suffered due to a misdiagnosis, call an experienced Kingston medical malpractice attorney today.

But what do you think?  I would love to hear from you!  Leave a comment or I also welcome your phone call on my toll-free cell at 1-866-889-6882 or you can drop me an e-mail at jfisher@fishermalpracticelaw.com.  You are always welcome to request my FREE book, The Seven Deadly Mistakes of Malpractice Victims, at the home page of my website at www.protectingpatientrights.com.