When you are in pain, whether because of an illness or an injury you suffered, you visit a doctor so that they can diagnose your condition and create an effective treatment plan. However, in some instances, doctors do not diagnose their patients properly.
Some doctors either misdiagnose their patients or fail to diagnose them promptly. When either of these two incidents occurs, a patient’s condition can suffer as a result. By the time a healthcare provider recognizes the issue and provides the patient with a proper diagnosis, the treatment needed can sometimes be far more extensive and expensive.
Delayed diagnosis and misdiagnosis are both prime examples of medical malpractice. A healthcare professional has an obligation to accurately diagnose a patient and provide appropriate care and treatment. When they fail to do so, patients can endure unnecessary pain and suffering.
Fortunately, you can fight back and recover damages for injuries you sustained due to a delayed diagnosis or misdiagnosis. While filing a medical malpractice lawsuit might feel like an uphill battle, it is often the only way to ensure you recover the compensation to make up for the pain and suffering you experienced.
Filing a Delayed Diagnosis or Misdiagnosis Lawsuit
While both claims share similarities involving types of medical malpractice , there are some key differences:
- Delayed Diagnosis: A doctor eventually makes the correct diagnosis after much delay, which can detrimentally affect the patient.
- Misdiagnosis: A doctor makes the wrong diagnosis which can lead to incorrect treatments, causing a patient’s condition to worsen.
To ensure your case is a success, you must prove that a doctor was negligent in their treatment. That means you must prove:
- A relationship between the doctor and the patient existed
- The doctor was negligent and breached the standard of care
- This negligence caused the patient to suffer further injury or pain and suffering
To succeed in a medical malpractice claim, the plaintiff must prove that the doctor was negligent or breached the standard of care. To prove that a doctor negligently misdiagnosed or delayed diagnosis of a patient, the plaintiff compares the conduct of the doctor to that of another competent doctor in the same or similar medical specialty under similar circumstances. In most cases of medical malpractice, this is achieved through the testimony of an expert medical, who will evaluate the doctor’s conduct in diagnosing the patient.
Filing a delayed diagnosis or misdiagnosis lawsuit can be a complicated process. However, the medical malpractice attorneys at Gainsburgh, Benjamin, David, Meunier & Warshauer, L.L.C. understand the intricacies of these cases to ensure that all of our clients across Louisiana and Mississippi experience the justice they deserve.
