Philadelphia Failure to Diagnose Attorneys
Physicians and health care providers have a duty to provide reasonable care to patients and a moral obligation to do everything they can to treat patients. Medical malpractice may arise when a doctor fails to diagnose a patient’s condition. Failure to diagnose also includes cases where a physician delivers a delayed diagnosis, which can be just as harmful as no diagnosis at all. Certain medical conditions and diseases can quickly spread, progress rapidly, and become more difficult to treat as time goes by. People put their full faith in doctors to make correct diagnoses and develop proper treatment plans, and as a result, may not seek second opinions from other doctors. When a doctor does not have expertise in a certain area, he or she should refer you to a specialist. If a doctor’s negligence leads to a delayed diagnosis, incorrect diagnosis, or a failure to diagnose, the patient may suffer preventable injury, permanent disability, or death.
Some medical conditions and diseases progress and cause damage very rapidly, and quick diagnosis and treatment can increase the patient’s chances for survival and complete recovery. A failure to diagnose or delayed diagnosis of breast cancer, colon cancer, lung cancer, other metastatic cancers, a heart attack, appendicitis, infections, stroke, and head injuries can have devastating effects because these conditions cause serious and irreparable harm very quickly. These diseases can progress to the point of being no longer treatable, many times leading to untimely death. Chances of survival can decrease rapidly the longer a doctor takes to diagnose a disease and begin treatment, which is why failing to diagnose can be so harmful. For example, those diagnosed with Stage I breast cancer have an 88% survival rate after five years, but those diagnosed with Stage IV breast cancer, which is more advanced cancer, have only a 15% five year survival rate.
Doctors and other medical professionals may fail to make a diagnosis or make a delayed diagnosis for several different reasons. Failing to order diagnostic tests, misreading x-rays, MRIs, CAT scans, and lab results, rushing through an examination, failing to take into account a patient’s medical history and potential risk factors, and failing to consult specialists can all cause a medical condition to be overlooked. Sometimes, a patient may be suffering from multiple conditions, making it more difficult for a doctor to make a correct diagnosis. Other times, symptoms a patient is experiencing may be vague or broad, or there may be a lack of diagnostic tests to make a definitive diagnosis. Failure to diagnose may also be the result of a very rare or unusual medical condition. Although these factors can make prompt and correct diagnoses more difficult, doctors are under an obligation to provide reasonable care under the circumstances, according to accepted standards in the medical community.
If a physician or other medical professional failed to diagnose your condition, or made a delayed diagnosis, you may be able to file a claim for medical malpractice if the misdiagnosis caused catastrophic injury or death, and the doctor did not meet the standard of due care. The experienced Pennsylvania failure to diagnose lawyers of Reiff & Bily understand this highly complex area of the law, and together with a team of on staff doctors and nurses, will be able to fully investigate your claim. Delayed diagnoses or failing to diagnose may cause you or someone you love to undergo longer or more extensive medical treatment, endure more pain, or leave you with permanent conditions that require lifelong care. For over 30 years, our experienced Philadelphia medical malpractice lawyers have litigated numerous claims of medical negligence, and have won hundreds of millions of dollars on behalf of generations of catastrophically injured victims and their families. If a medical mistake or failure to diagnose led to a catastrophic injury or wrongful death, contact one of our attorneys for a no-obligation, confidential consultation.
