When you are ill, it is natural to visit your healthcare provider to find out what is wrong in an effort to get better. Most of the time, physicians are able to diagnose patients with decent accuracy and healthcare improves their lives as a result.
However, certain illnesses have a greater chance of going undiagnosed than others. If a physician fails to diagnose you properly, the implications to your health can be devastating. If you or someone you love suffers complications as a result of the healthcare provider’s failure to diagnose a condition, you may be in a position to sue for damages via a medical malpractice claim.
What does a failure to diagnose look like?
When you check in at a doctor’s office, you hope for a prompt diagnosis and adequate treatment for your condition. When the doctor fails to diagnose your condition, however, you may not receive the treatment you need; and depending on the condition in question, you might suffer complications or even die.
Here are challenges that can lead to a diagnostic failure:
- When a doctor fails to perform tests for a possible condition
- When a doctor conducts the wrong tests
- When a doctor misinterprets test results
- When a doctor downplays the urgency of a patient’s condition
Taking action following a doctor’s diagnostic failure
A failure to diagnose that results in harm is a form of medical malpractice. As a result, you’re entitled to seek damages from any physician or medical facility that has harmed you in this way within two years from the date of the incident unless an exception applies to your circumstances that warrants an extension.
Suing a doctor for failure to diagnose your condition might not bring back your health or a loved one’s life if they succumbed to their injuries. However, it can ensure that you receive the financial compensation that you’ll need to pay for any economic and non-economic damages that you have incurred.