What is a Failed Diagnosis in New Hampshire?
Failure to diagnose or misdiagnosis of a disease or medical condition is a serious problem. It occurs when a doctor fails to identify and treat appropriately a patient who reports to them with a certain medical condition. This can include errors such as failing to identify and diagnosis the condition, failing to treat that condition in a timely manner or mistaking the disease for another condition.
A study of Patient Safety Incidents (PSIs) found that failure to diagnose and treat a medical problem in time was the most common cause of patient safety incidents at the rate of the 155 incidence per 1,000 patients hospitalized. Additionally, a 1997 patient survey by The National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF) found that 40% of people who reported experiencing a medical mistake cited the reason for the mistake as being a misdiagnosis or treatment error. These types of errors can occur in many different ways. Some of the most common failure to diagnose errors occur due to:
- Improper or non-thorough medical examinations
- Misreading or misinterpreting lab results and medical test results
- Failing to identify symptoms as a sign of a certain disease
- Failure to order additional tests
- Dismissal or failure to consider all of the symptoms the patient reports
- Failure to discuss all treatment options with the patient
If you or a loved one have been harmed due to a medical misdiagnosis for failure to treat error, call a New Hampshire personal injury attorney to find out more about your rights. You may be entitled to seek financial compensation.
Types of Failure to Diagnose Injuries
There are two ways that a failure to diagnose or wrong diagnosis error can cause injury to a patient. The first, and perhaps most obvious, is that failing to diagnose a serious condition such as cancer can result in the spread of the disease. This can make it more difficult to treat in the future and even lead to death if it is not caught in time. The second way that a misdiagnosis can lead to injury is if the patient undergoes treatment for the wrong condition. Some medical treatments and drugs can be extremely harsh on the body. For example, a patient who is wrongly diagnosed with cancer may undergo chemotherapy which is very hard on a person and can cause a lot of physical and emotional suffering.
While misdiagnosis errors can involve any medical condition, the most serious ones that lead to long-term effects or injury are the conditions that require quick treatment in order to avoid spreading or death such as cancer, allergic reactions, meningitis, strokes or diabetes related conditions. In order to stop a fast advancing condition, diagnosis and treatment must be done quickly.
Proving a Diagnosis Error in New Hampshire
If you believe that you or a family member have been the victim of a failure to diagnose or misdiagnosis error, contact an injury attorney right away. These types of cases are difficult to prove because many issues need to be shown. This includes:
- That a doctor failed to diagnose or misdiagnosed a condition that another doctor reasonably would have been able to diagnose
- That the failure to treat or misdiagnosis directly led to serious injury, life-threatening progression of the injury, or death
Though misdiagnosis or failure to diagnose it is quite common, legal action can only be taken when the diagnosing error lead directly to injury or disease progression that would have been avoided if diagnosed sooner. This is most common in cancer diagnoses because, when cancer is not diagnosed in a timely manner, it can spread to other areas causing damage and be more difficult to treat.
Often, a doctor can be held liable for failure to diagnose in situations where they expressly dismiss a symptom as being caused by a particular disease. For example, a patient with a cough being told they do not have asthma who later suffers from a serious asthma attack.
New Hampshire Failure to Diagnose Lawyer
Attorneys Ryan Russman and Amy Connolly are experienced personal injury lawyers who represent clients all over New Hampshire. They know what it takes to help them get the compensation that they deserve for their medical malpractice injuries.
If you or a loved one have been the victim of a medical misdiagnosis or failure to treat error, contact Russman Law right away. You may be entitled to compensation for medical bills, lost wages from inability to work, funeral expenses, pain and suffering and more. We can help you get the results that you need.
