Failure to Diagnose Malpractice

Chicago Attorneys Knowledgeable in Medical Malpractice Claims

Our Chicago misdiagnosis lawyers know that medical malpractice lawsuits arise out of a failure to diagnose, misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis. If this careless mistake leads to improper treatment or no treatment, a patient's condition may worsen, resulting in lost opportunities to improve (as with cancer) or even death. The medical malpractice lawyers at Moll Law Group may be able to represent Chicago residents and others who are seeking damages from a negligent health care provider.

Holding a Doctor Accountable for a Failure to Diagnose, Misdiagnosis or Delayed Diagnosis

In order to prove that a failure to diagnose, misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis was malpractice, you need to show that there was a doctor-patient relationship, the doctor did not provide medical care to you in a reasonably competent manner, the doctor's negligence actually harmed you, and you suffered injuries. In order to determine whether a doctor provided medical care in a reasonably competent way, you need to look at what the doctor did or did not do to arrive at the failure to diagnose, misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis. A misdiagnosis lawyer can help Chicago patients analyze this process.

Doctors use differential diagnosis to arrive at a decision about how to treat a patient. This is a systemic process used to identify the patient's ailment or illness. The doctor starts by making a list of diagnoses. These are supposed to be listed in the order of the probability that a particular patient has that condition. The strength of each diagnosis is tested through further observations, asking detailed questions, and ordering tests. In some cases, it is necessary to refer the patient to a specialist. As the doctor goes down the list, various diagnoses can be ruled out, and ideally only one is left at the end.

Generally, in a medical failure to diagnose, misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis case, you need to show either that the correct diagnosis was never included in the doctor's differential diagnosis list or that the doctor failed to perform the right tests or ask the right questions in order to adequately investigate whether the diagnosis was right or not. You need to prove that a similar type of doctor under similar circumstances would have included it or performed better tests or asked better questions.

In addition to showing the doctor's negligence in failing to diagnose you, misdiagnosing you or delaying the diagnosis, you need to show that your condition worsened due to the failure to diagnose, misdiagnosis or delay in diagnosis and that this negatively affected your treatment. For example, a patient whose lung cancer is not caught in time due to a failure to diagnose, misdiagnosis or delay may progress to Stage IV or die. A failure to diagnose correctly the first time also may lead to a higher likelihood that the cancer recurs.

Although many cases rely on an analysis of the differential diagnosis process, sometimes a failure to diagnose, misdiagnosis or delay in diagnosis occurs due to an outside error. For example, lab tests may be faulty, or samples may have been mixed up. In some cases, technicians miss something on a pathology slide or scan. In order to recover damages, you need to prove that the technicians or other responsible parties were negligent.

In Illinois, you have only two years from the date you knew or should have known you were hurt by the malpractice to file a lawsuit. This time frame can be tricky in a failure to diagnose, misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis case. Most patients do not know right away that they were injured by malpractice. As soon as you suspect, however, you should consult an experienced attorney.

Seek Representation from a Misdiagnosis Attorney in Chicago

The injury attorneys at Moll Law Group represent people in Chicago and the surrounding area who have been harmed by the carelessness of their health care providers. Billions of dollars have been recovered in cases in which we were involved. Our firm represents individuals in Naperville, Schaumburg, Wheaton, and communities throughout Cook County. Call us at 312-462-1700 or use our online form to set up a free consultation with a Chicago misdiagnosis attorney.