Did You Have a Medical Condition Misdiagnosed?

Thursday, December 23, 2021

Did You Have a Medical Condition Misdiagnosed?

Written by Malman Law, reviewed by Steve J. Malman.

Everyone who seeks medical treatment from a healthcare professional when they are injured, or unwell expects the healthcare professionals to properly diagnose their ailment and provide the needed care. Unfortunately, however, this is not always the case, as things do go wrong because of mistakes making their situation worse.

One of the things that could go wrong and do go wrong often is missed or delayed diagnosis of their medical condition. A missed or delayed diagnosis prevents or makes it impossible for the patient to receive appropriate medical treatment to stop their medical condition from getting worse.

Legal Consequences of Misdiagnosis

A misdiagnosis can raise grounds for filing a medical malpractice case if a physician acted negligently and did something or failed to do something another doctor would not have taken or failed to do given the same facts and circumstances. Proving a medical malpractice case is not easy, but at Malman Law, we have experienced medical malpractice attorneys who can help find hidden evidence of negligence in your case.

Reasons for a Misdiagnosis

There are many reasons that account for the misdiagnosis of a medical condition, and even though most of them are unintentional, the misdiagnosis or medical malpractice can have serious health consequences for the patient. In some cases, a misdiagnosis can leave a patient in worse health than they were before seeing the doctor or going to the hospital.

Moreover, for a delayed misdiagnosis, this timing could be critical depending on the medical condition. For example, it is critical to quickly diagnose advanced diseases such as cancer to provide the necessary treatment such as chemotherapy or radiation, which in turn can prevent a malignant tumor from growing or spreading to other parts of the body.

Other things that can cause a misdiagnosis are:

1. Inadequate training. It is important that medical professionals keep abreast of new developments in their field. When they fail to do so, chances are they can easily miss or misdiagnose newer and more complicated ailments.
2. Ordering the wrong medical test. This is a common occurrence even though, on its face, it should not be. The error could simply be medical staff mistaking one patient for another.
3. Symptoms are similar to other medical conditions. This is a more nuanced medical error and proving negligence may be more difficult because even the best trained and skilled medical professionals can be thrown off when symptoms of one condition mimic symptoms of a different condition.
4. Misreading scans or tests (C-T scans, X-rays, blood tests). Misreading test result errors may occur because of faulty equipment or human error. It may be the case of a lab technician administering the test inappropriately, or a doctor can misread a scan leading to a missed or delayed diagnosis.
5. Contaminated samples. When proper protocols are not adhered to in handling samples, contamination is inevitable, and this may cause a misdiagnosis.

Consult with a Chicago Medical Malpractice Attorney Today

If you have been harmed because of a misdiagnosis or are the victim of a missed or delayed one, contact the office of Malman Law to speak to a Chicago medical malpractice lawyer 24 hours a day.