Fighting For Justice And Your Best Interests

Missed an HIV diagnosis? It may be malpractice

On Behalf of | May 21, 2021 | Failure To Diagnose |

As a female in what you thought as a closed relationship, you never thought to worry about HIV. Your partner said they were tested, and you trusted them.

Later on, you started having unusual infections. Yeast seemed to get out of control, and typical medications weren’t working. You asked the doctor for tests, and they did test you for STDs. Nothing came back, so you were told it wasn’t anything to worry about while receiving minimal treatment.

If you have now been informed that you have AIDS after failing to receive treatment for HIV, you have every right to be upset. Failing to test for this disease is a prominent problem for some segments of the population, even with the signs are all there.

What are the basic signs of HIV?

Some of the basic signs of HIV include:

  • White spots in your mouth
  • Fatigue
  • Weight loss
  • Rashes
  • Difficult-to-treat yeast infections
  • Swollen lymph nodes

Looking at these symptoms, it’s easy to see how a doctor might think that a person has other illnesses instead of HIV. Common colds and illnesses can present in this way as well. That’s why it’s important for medical providers, especially OB-GYNs and those treating patients with longer-term infections or difficult-to-treat yeast should be testing for HIV.

Many people go without a diagnosis

The sad reality is that many people go without a diagnosis. It’s estimated that around one out of every seven people with HIV don’t know that they have it. Even more surprisingly, most people haven’t been tested for HIV despite the CDC recommending that all people between 13 and 64 receive a test at least once.

HIV testing is simple. It’s a swab that takes only a few minutes to provide answers to a waiting patient. If a medical provider doesn’t think to check for HIV despite many of the signs and already ruling out other causes, then their delay could be putting a patient at risk of further complications.

If you have AIDS now because HIV was not spotted soon enough, you may have a right to sue your provider for malpractice and their failure to diagnose you.