When you are suffering from injury or illness and seek medical care, you expect that, at a minimum, your condition won’t worsen because of medical carelessness or negligence. Unfortunately, for many reasons, far too many people suffer needless injury after receiving care from doctors or nurses. One of the most frequent involves mistake or error in properly diagnosing an illness or condition.
The Different Types of Diagnostic Mistakes
Though the diagnosis of a medical malady is not an exact science, there are situations where medical professionals act inappropriately and can be liable for damages:
- Incorrect diagnosis/misdiagnosis — A medical professional may come to the wrong conclusion about an injury or illness. This may stem from a failure to reasonably conduct appropriate tests, from a misreading of test results, or from a lack of experience/understanding of the specific medical condition.
- Missed diagnosis or failure to diagnose — In this situation, the doctor fails to take reasonable steps to establish that a certain condition or illness is present.
- Failure to diagnose or check for a related injury, illness or complication—There are times when a doctor should anticipate related conditions or illnesses, but fails to do so.
- Delayed diagnosis — If a doctor makes the right diagnosis, but the telltale signs were there for some time, there can be liability if there’s needless injury or loss.
According to statistics, diagnostic mistakes are the single most prevalent basis for a medical malpractice claim, accounting for about one of every three medical malpractice lawsuits filed.
Contact Attorney Howard D. Popper
For a free initial consultation, contact our office online or call us at 973-993-8787. We have office locations in Morristown and Newton, but will visit you in your home or the hospital, if necessary.
We take all medical malpractice claims on a contingency basis. You will not incur legal fees unless attorney Popper recovers compensation for your losses.