How to Prove Misdiagnosis in a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit

A recent study discovered that medical errors may account for as many as 251,000 deaths annually making it the third leading cause of death in the United States. When medical errors do occur, and the patient is severely injured as a result of those errors, they incur the expense of future medical costs, lost wages, and reduced quality of life. Among the most common mistakes made by medical professionals is a failure to diagnose, misdiagnosis, or delayed diagnosis. However, proving that a medical professional misdiagnosed you is complicated under the law. In this article, the Oakland, California medical malpractice attorneys at Venardi Zurada will discuss how to prove a misdiagnosis led to your injury and receive compensation for medical malpractice.

What is misdiagnosis in a medical malpractice lawsuit? 

According to the law, there are three recognized categories of misdiagnosis. Those are:

• Failure to diagnose – The doctor never considers the correct diagnosis.
• Misdiagnosis – The doctor diagnoses the patient incorrectly.
• Delayed diagnosis – The doctor makes the correct diagnosis, but not before the patient has been substantially injured.

Correctly diagnosing a patient relies on a physician’s ability to interpret their symptoms in a timely manner. In many cases, a patient’s condition can deteriorate while the doctor is considering several diagnoses. If a doctor fails in this regard, you may be able to file a medical malpractice lawsuit against them and recover damages related to your injuries. But first, you must prove that the treating physician failed to render the prevailing standard of care for the medical profession. Proving a mistake isn’t quite enough. You must establish:

• That the medical provider had a doctor/patient relationship at the time of the misdiagnosis
• That the provider owed a duty of care to the patient to treat them using industry-accepted standards
• That the medical provider breached this duty of care due to negligence
• The negligence directly caused an injury to the patient
• The patient suffered economic and non-economic damages due to the injury

Proving misdiagnosis in a medical malpractice case 

In a medical misdiagnosis case, you must do more than prove that the doctor made an honest mistake. You must be able to show that the doctor failed to render the prevailing standard of care for the medical profession when reaching that diagnosis. Further, you must be able to establish that a doctor in the same specialty would have considered the correct diagnosis. This is a test to determine whether the doctor rendered the prevailing standard of care for the profession. In the case of misdiagnosis, you would have to establish that the doctor never gave due consideration to the correct diagnosis. In the case of delayed diagnosis, you must establish that the doctor should have made the diagnosis earlier and that injuries resulted from failing to diagnose the patient in a timely manner.

Talk to an Oakland, CA Medical Malpractice Attorney Today 

Have you been injured due to the negligent practice of medicine? If so, you should contact an Oakland medical malpractice attorney right away. Venardi Zurada represents the interests of patients in medical malpractice lawsuits. We serve the Bay Area from our office locations in Oakland and Walnut Creek. Call our Oakland personal injury lawyers today to learn more about how we can help.

Source:

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28186008/#:~:text=Abstract,third%20leading%20cause%20of%20death.