Patients depend on their physicians to correctly diagnose any medical conditions they may have and to determine whether the medical treatment their doctor recommends is the best option for their condition. When a doctor misdiagnoses a condition the patient does not have, the patient is not only not receiving the correct treatment for the condition they do have, but also receiving treatment for a condition they don’t have, which can put them in serious medical danger.
Unfortunately, this happens far too often. Studies show that in about half of patients who are misdiagnosed, there is the potential that the patient will suffer from severe harm. Patients who suffer because of misdiagnosis may be able to pursue a medical malpractice lawsuit. A Virginia Beach malpractice attorney can evaluate a case to make that determination.
Misdiagnosis is not the only issue that can harm a patient. Other issues include missed, delayed, or incorrect diagnoses.
A missed diagnosis occurs when a physician incorrectly states that a patient is healthy and has no underlying condition. The patient’s condition or disease goes untreated because the doctor failed to diagnose it properly.
When a doctor makes an incorrect diagnosis, they reach the wrong conclusion about what is causing the patient’s symptoms, leading them to diagnose a condition the patient does not have. The patient can be harmed by the treatment the doctor orders for the wrong diagnosis, and by the lack of treatment they are not receiving for the actual medical condition they do have.
A delayed diagnosis results in a significant delay between when the patient first approaches the doctor with the issue and when the doctor finally correctly diagnoses it. There may have been a missed diagnosis, an incorrect diagnosis, or a misdiagnosis in the interim; however, a great deal of time has passed before the patient finally received proper treatment. It is not uncommon for this treatment delay to cause additional medical problems for the patient.
In order to be successful in a medical malpractice lawsuit, there are certain elements that an attorney must prove:
It is estimated that there are 12 million people who are misdiagnosed each year – often with fatal consequences. Multiple studies have found that incorrect or delayed diagnosis happens much more frequently than patients realize. One study, conducted by the National Academy of Medicine, found that the majority of us will receive at least one incorrect or late diagnosis in our lives.
If you or a family member has suffered a serious illness due to a doctor’s missed or late diagnosis, contact one of our seasoned Virginia medical malpractice attorneys to discuss what legal options you may have. The legal team at Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp understands how devastating medical errors like these can be to a family, not only emotionally but also financially. We have successfully represented many clients in obtaining the financial compensation they deserved, like the $2.23 million wrongful death/medical malpractice verdict our firm secured for one family whose mother died from a delayed diagnosis of hospital sepsis.
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Experts convened by the National Academy of Medicine concluded that “it is likely that most people will experience at least one diagnostic error in their lifetime, sometimes with devastating consequences.”
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