A delayed diagnosis–where your doctor fails to promptly and correctly identify your diagnosis and begin treatment–can sometimes mean the difference between life and death. At best, a delayed diagnosis is both costly and stressful because it requires unnecessary testing and doctor visits. At worst, it could lead to hard-to-treat symptoms, incurable conditions, or death. If your condition has worsened due to a delayed diagnosis, a malpractice claim may be a possibility. Learn more, or call a New York delayed diagnosis lawyer from Buttafuoco & Associates for help at 1-800-NOW-HURT.
Common Instances of Delayed Diagnosis
Delayed diagnoses are unfortunately quite common. Cardiovascular conditions, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and Lyme disease are just a few of the serious conditions that are frequently diagnosed after the condition has significantly worsened. There are nearly endless medical errors that can lead to a delayed diagnosis, but some are more serious than others.
Cancer
Cancer patients are often the victims of delayed diagnosis. If a doctor fails to order a scan, overlooks a crucial abnormal test result, or refuses to test for a rare cancer simply because it is unlikely, this could result in disastrous consequences including:
- Cancer progression to a difficult or untreatable stage
- More expensive, more painful, or more prolonged treatment
- Death
Cardiovascular Disease
Especially among women, cardiovascular events are often ignored or diagnosed late by doctors. If a doctor mistakenly diagnoses a heart attack as anxiety or indigestion, it could result in severe complications or death.
Alzheimer’s Disease
Delayed diagnosis often happens with Alzheimer’s disease because a doctor attributes the patient’s symptoms to the normal aging process.
Lyme Disease
Lyme disease has a wide range of symptoms, many of which could be attributed to other less-urgent conditions. This disease, once it progresses, can make treatment difficult and ineffective.
Establishing a Delayed Diagnosis Lawsuit
There are several criteria that must be satisfied in order to win a delayed diagnosis malpractice lawsuit. Just because a doctor gives you a clean bill of health at one visit and discovers a serious disease on the next does not mean they missed the disease at the first visit. Some conditions can manifest quickly and without warning.
It is your responsibility as the patient to present proof that the doctor deviated from the standard of care. For example, this could mean your doctor failed to give your symptoms the attention they needed, when another doctor with the same qualifications would have further investigated your condition sooner.
You must also prove that this failure caused you harm–for example, that your cancer progressed to a less treatable stage, or your delayed heart attack diagnosis caused irreversible heart damage. If you did not suffer any type of harm, you do not have a valid claim.
Additionally, there may be parties beyond your medical practitioner who are responsible for delayed diagnoses: lab technicians, nurses, radiologists, and others could also be held liable. This is why it is essential to work with a qualified medical malpractice attorney to fully recover the damages you are owed.
Evidence
The evidence required in a delayed diagnosis case goes beyond simply having medical records. An expert medical witness must review your medical records and testify in regard to what a “reasonable practitioner” would have done if faced with an identical situation.
If the medical expert is able to review your original test results or imaging report and show that a doctor providing the proper standard of care would have correctly diagnosed the condition more quickly, this can serve as evidence to support your case.
Filing a Lawsuit after a Delayed Diagnosis
The damages you are eligible to recover after a delayed diagnosis depend on how the delay impacted your condition. For example, if your pneumonia diagnosis was delayed and resulted in a longer-than-necessary recovery time, you could be eligible to recover lost wages from time off work, additional medical bills due to your worsened condition, and potentially pain and suffering.
For fatal conditions such as advanced stage pancreatic cancer, you may be able to recover similar damages. Additionally, if your condition is fatal, your surviving family members may be entitled to damages for ways your conditions impacted them. This could include loss of quality of life, lost earning capacity, loss of consortium, loss of support, mental anguish, etc.
It is important to keep in mind that proving a delayed diagnosis and its level of harm can be a challenging legal process requiring the best experts and attorneys. If you believe you are a victim of medical malpractice, get in touch with a New York medical malpractice attorney as soon as possible to discuss your case. New York’s statute of limitations is only two and a half years from the discovery of the error, so it is imperative that you act quickly.
Buttafuoco & Associates is here to help injured patients or families recover compensation they deserve for negligent medical treatment.
Call 1-800-NOW-HURT or fill out our contact form for a free case review.
