Failing to diagnose a medical condition is one of the most common grounds for a civil malpractice lawsuit. These failures by medical professionals can result in serious, life-altering health challenges for their patients. People who have experienced such failures could hold a negligent doctor accountable with the help of an experienced medical malpractice attorney.
When you suffer because of a doctor’s failure to adequately diagnose your condition, you may be entitled to compensation. Every doctor—including yours—has an obligation to provide patients with a minimum standard of care. A Toledo failure to diagnose lawyer at Zoll & Kranz, LLC could advise you on whether your doctor met that standard while treating you.
Why Doctors Fail To Diagnose
Doctors fail to diagnose injuries or illnesses for several reasons. Sometimes, they fail to recognize symptoms that would have made identification of a condition possible. In other cases, they carelessly fail to perform the tests or make the observations that might point to a specific illness or injury.
The failure to diagnose injuries or illnesses can cause lasting damage. Often, these mistakes result in injuries worsening beyond what they would have if the doctor had made the diagnosis at the right time. Sometimes, the failure to diagnose an illness or disease can result in a patient missing the opportunity to have their condition treated at all.
Not every missed diagnosis will result in a viable case for compensation, though. In some situations, a doctor making every reasonable effort to identify the cause of a patient’s symptoms may still not be able to identify that cause with certainty. A seasoned Toledo failure to diagnose attorney can provide insight into the appropriate circumstances for pursuing legal action.
The Potential for Recovering Damages
Doctors who fail to make the correct diagnosis could be liable for any harm they cause. This harm often goes beyond physical injuries or illnesses, since many patients in these situations face financial or emotional hardship because of the doctor’s failure. A proactive Toledo lawyer could pursue monetary damages in a failure to diagnose lawsuit that include:
Medical Costs
Medical costs can skyrocket due to a failure to diagnose, since failing to diagnose an injury or illness could increase the cost of treating the condition in the future. When a relatively simple condition is not diagnosed promptly, it can lead to enormous medical expenses.
Pain and Suffering
The failure to diagnose an injury or illness often leads to acute, short-term pain and chronic, long-term pain. This physical pain can be accompanied by ongoing emotional suffering, as well. A doctor might ignore or fail to recognize the condition causing this discomfort, potentially leading to compensation based on the duration and severity of the pain and suffering.
Lost Wages
Another common hardship related to the failure to diagnose an injury or illness is the inability to maintain employment. Some patients who miss time away from work unnecessarily would not have if their condition had been diagnosed correctly in the first place—and could potentially receive compensation for it.
Schedule a Consultation With a Toledo Failure To Diagnose Attorney
You do not have to face these medical professionals and their legal teams on your own. Contact a Toledo failure to diagnose lawyer as soon as possible to learn more about your legal options.