Medical Misdiagnosis can be Medical Malpractice
Misdiagnosis, treating a patient for the wrong condition, or a missed diagnosis, failing to make the correct diagnosis, are common forms of medical malpractice. Treating a patient for the wrong disease, while the actual underlying condition goes unchecked, can cause serious harm. Misdiagnosis can make an already dangerous medical condition worse.
Missed or Delayed Diagnosis
While making the correct diagnosis can sometimes be hard, doctors should use the tools at their disposal to make the right diagnosis. Medicine is always evolving. New testing is developed. New advances are made. Doctors should stay on top of changing studies, testing techniques, and tools.
Doctors can use these advances in their differential diagnosis when treating patients. Differential diagnosis is the process where doctors rule out possible causes of a patient’s condition starting with the most life threatening. This tool is a powerful. Differential diagnosis can be extremely useful in helping a doctor come to the correct diagnosis.
We cannot expect doctors to be perfect. However, the standard of care requires that they use the tools available to them. They must evaluate their patient’s sign and symptoms when figuring out how to treat them. Common misdiagnosis errors include:
- Delaying the proper diagnosis, often by ignoring test results or failing to consider the patient’s signs and symptoms
- Delayed or misdiagnosis of cancer allowing cancer to metastasize or spread
- Failing to detect and timely treat infection
- Failure to fully utilize the tool of differential diagnosis allowing the real disease to go untreated
Doctor and hospitals can begin the process of protecting themselves even before you know there is a problem. Also, the statute of limitations, often bars missed diagnosis cases. Many people don’t know that their doctor made a mistake until the limitations period of two years has passed. Act quickly once you believe there has been a misdiagnosis.
Medical Malpractice Attorney handling Medical Misdiagnosis Cases
Contact Chelsie King Garza for a free consultation today. You need to start your investigation into the medical misdiagnosis. Medical records can be lost or altered. Requesting them quickly and starting the investigation quickly is in your best interest. Contact a medical malpractice attorney today.