An incorrect diagnosis can lead to worsening health problems and unnecessary suffering. Sometimes, a diagnostic mistake could result in an earlier death.
When you receive the wrong diagnosis, or no diagnosis, and later find out you have a serious health condition, contact our compassionate medical malpractice attorneys at Colling Gilbert Wright. Our Orlando failure to diagnose lawyer has a stellar reputation in the profession for pursuing medical negligence cases with zeal, compassion, and integrity.
When Is a Mistaken or Missed Diagnosis Malpractice?
Diagnosing a disease is not an exact science. Some diseases can be identified solely on the results of specific tests. Others require the healthcare professional to exercise their best judgment based on a combination of the clinical information, the patient’s medical history, and their reported symptoms.
An incorrect or missed diagnosis may not be malpractice if the medical provider took the appropriate steps to find the cause of your illness or condition. However, when we review your medical records, we often find that the provider:
- Never ordered the necessary tests
- Did not consider your family history or your medical history
- Ignored your complaints or minimized your symptoms
- Misinterpreted test results
- Never conducted an appropriate follow-up
- Failed to make a specialist referral when appropriate
Any of these mistakes could lead to the wrong diagnosis or no diagnosis at all, even though you are suffering from a serious condition.
Florida Statutes § 766.104 requires a malpractice attorney in Orlando to investigate whether a diagnostic error is a reasonable mistake or if the healthcare provider failed to provide an appropriate standard of care. At The Florida Firm, we have a network of medical specialists we use to review medical records and provide an opinion on whether malpractice occurred. If the specialist determines that your misdiagnosis resulted from medical negligence, we could file a lawsuit against the doctor to seek compensation.
Consequences of Delayed or Missed Diagnosis
When you are suffering from a serious illness, a delayed or missed diagnosis could mean that you underwent unnecessary or contraindicated medical procedures. You may have been prescribed ineffective medication, and you may have suffered debilitating symptoms for longer than you should have.
Misdiagnosing emergencies such as a heart attack or stroke can cause delays in treatment that limit your recovery and can sometimes cause death. In some cases, misdiagnosis of certain illnesses in childhood can lead to developmental delays and have lifelong consequences. When a doctor fails to diagnose cancer, you might miss the window for obtaining effective treatment at an early stage, leading to an earlier death.
Our Orlando attorneys could demand financial compensation that reflects the extent of the harm you suffered because of the doctor’s diagnostic negligence. Our firm has obtained a verdict of more than $7 million for a child whose pediatrician failed to diagnose a heart condition, $3 million for a failure to timely diagnose cervical cancer, and more than $2.5 million for a family whose loved one died after a doctor failed to diagnose bacterial meningitis.
Time Frames Are Critical
If you believe you or a loved one has been harmed due to a failure to diagnose an illness or condition, it is critical to secure legal counsel as quickly as possible. State law allows patients a limited time to sue their doctors.
In most cases, an adult has two years from the date of last treatment to file a lawsuit. When the medical error is not discovered immediately, for example, if you did not know your doctor missed a diagnosis until another doctor correctly identified your condition, you have two years from the date of discovery. However, you cannot file a lawsuit if more than four years have passed since the doctor’s mistake, regardless of when you discovered it.
The rules regarding the timing of lawsuits when a child was the victim of a missed diagnosis are even more complicated, but the law does provide extra time when a young child is injured. Our Orlando lawyers could review your child’s medical treatment records and determine whether a failure to diagnose lawsuit is possible.
Call an Attorney in Orlando To Pursue Damages for Failure To Diagnose
Failing to diagnose a serious condition can have an enormous impact on the quality of your life and could even shorten your lifespan. Our attorneys at Colling Gilbert Wright have been representing Orlando residents in medical malpractice cases for more than 20 years, and we have the experience to hold the negligent physician accountable. We do not collect a fee unless we obtain compensation for you, so call an Orlando failure to diagnose lawyer at our firm today.