Frequently Asked Questions About Delayed Diagnosis Cases

When a medical professional fails to promptly diagnose a person’s medical condition, there are many potential complications that can arise. Often, a patient that is deprived of an early diagnosis is also deprived of effective treatment and a full recovery. Given the danger of late diagnosis, medical practitioners should be held accountable if they fail to provide a prompt diagnosis to a patient. If you or a loved one has been harmed by medical malpractice, it can help to have a basic understanding about how these accidents occur.

What Harm can a Patient Incur Due to Delayed Diagnosis?

Obtaining timely medical treatment can make a significant difference in the outcome of a patient’s life. Based on the health condition with which a person is afflicted, there are a variety of additional injuries that can be incurred. In cases involving cancer and other serious diseases, a patient’s medical condition can progress to a worse condition if not properly diagnosed in time.

What Must be Demonstrated in a Delayed Diagnosis Case?

A delayed diagnosis must go beyond a simple mistake, which does not result in the physician being liable for the damage. To establish that delayed diagnosis occurred, a person must demonstrate several particular conditions, which include the following:

• A doctor/patient relationship must have existed at the time that the diagnosis was made.
• The doctor failed to adhere to the reasonable standard of care followed by other medical providers.
• Because of the physician’s delayed diagnosis, the patient was harmed.

What can a Delayed Diagnosis Include?

Delayed diagnosis errors can involve several types of physician behavior, including:

• Failure to refer a patient to a specialist.
• Lost paperwork.
• Medical chart errors.
• Not ordering routine medical tests.
• Not treating a patient in a timely manner.
• Reading results incorrectly.

What are Some of the Most Common Delayed Diagnosis Conditions?

A delayed diagnosis can result in significant obstacles being created in a patient’s life. Some of the most common illnesses involved in delayed diagnosis cases involve:

• Brain injuries
• Breast cancer
• Colon cancer
• Crohn’s disease
• Heart attacks
• Infections
• Internal bleeding
• Ligament damage
• Lung cancer
• Meningitis
• Prostate cancer
• Staph infections
• Stroke
• Surgical errors

What Should a Person do if Impacted by Delayed Diagnosis?

There are several critical steps that a person should take if he or she has been impacted by a delayed diagnosis, which include:

• Speak to a knowledgeable medical malpractice attorney who knows how to best analyze the facts of your case.
• Gather all necessary medical documentation regarding your injury. This helps to establish what tests were conducted, on what dates the examinations occurred, and sometimes why the delay occurred.
• Record all details about the medical appointment during which the delayed diagnosis occurred.

Speak to a Knowledgeable New Jersey Medical Malpractice Lawyer

If you or a loved one experienced harm caused by a delayed diagnosis, contact the experienced legal counsel at Ferrara & Gable. Our law firm has helped countless individuals navigate the complicated area of medical malpractice and obtain the compensation that they deserve. Contact our law office for a free case evaluation today.