Failure to Diagnose
A physician's failure to diagnose a certain conditions is only one of the many types of medical malpractice. In order to have a valid claim, a person bringing a lawsuit must prove: 1) that the health care provider failed to diagnose a condition they should have, and 2) that such failure caused significant harm or loss to the patient that they would not have otherwise had.
One example is a radiologist's failure to identify a suspicious spot on a chest x-ray six months before a patient was diagnosed with lung cancer. Two questions need to be answered to determine if there is a valid claim: 1) Did the radiologist breach the standard of care by failing to diagnose a suspicious spot on the chest x-ray; and, if so, 2).Did that cause the lung cancer to spread and make it more difficult to treat.
Assume that an investigation concludes that the radiologist was negligent in not identifying the suspicious lesion and that this malpractice prevented the timely diagnosis of the cancer. If the patient can prove that patient's prognosis worsened because of that delay, they may have a successful medical malpractice claim for a failure to diagnose.
If you suspect that you or your loved on has been a victim of a failure to diagnose a medical condition, contact us online or call Theodoros & Rooth at
