With most illnesses and injuries, early treatment ensures the best opportunity for the patient to make a full recovery. The sooner a patient receives a clear diagnosis of their medical condition, the better the chance they have of successfully conquering the problem because they can take advantage of aggressive early treatments. When a patient receives a delayed or wrong diagnosis, they often suffer severe adverse health consequences.
If you believe your doctor failed to diagnose your or your loved one’s medical condition correctly, you should consider discussing what happened with a Toledo misdiagnosis medical malpractice lawyer. Our experienced failure to diagnose attorneys might be able to help you pursue justice for your pain and suffering.
When Does a Diagnostic Mistake Rise to the Level of Malpractice?
Doctors and other healthcare workers are not perfect; sometimes, they do things at work that harm the people they are supposed to help. Occasionally, they make mistakes when diagnosing patients.
Sometimes, these diagnostic errors are excusable, such as when an emergency room doctor needs to quickly assess an unconscious patient and make a split-second decision about what is ailing them. In this exigent circumstance, the emergency room doctor is acting swiftly to try to save the patient’s life. Suppose they make a mistake in trying to diagnose the patient. In that case, it might not be malpractice because the emergency room doctor made a quick decision without having access to the unconscious patient’s complete medical history.
Other diagnostic errors occur because of negligent behaviors, such as when a primary care doctor does not give their full attention to their patient due to overscheduling. When a doctor does not take the time to listen to their patient’s complaints or give them a complete examination, they might not be able to accurately diagnose what is ailing them.
When determining if a doctor’s error is excusable or amounts to actionable malpractice, the court would review if the doctor’s mistake fell below the reasonable standard of care. The court would compare the doctor’s actions to those of other reasonable doctors facing similar situations. There might be a claim for negligence if, when looking at a patient’s symptoms, another doctor would have ordered additional diagnostic testing or identified their condition. Our Toledo misdiagnosis attorneys could review a patient’s medical charts, review the evidence, and assess whether the injured patient might have a valid claim for medical malpractice.
Consequences of a Misdiagnosis in Toledo
If a medical provider fails to listen to their patient, order the right tests, review a patient’s full medical history, or read test results, they can cause great harm to their patient. Some illnesses, such as cancer, improve significantly with prompt treatment. Delays in treatment can prolong a patient’s pain and suffering and take away a possible chance to save their life. Our diligent lawyers could provide a suffering patient with an opportunity to hold responsible doctors and medical providers accountable for their wrongful actions.
Talk to a Toledo Misdiagnosis Medical Malpractice Attorney
The wrong medical diagnosis can have a tremendous adverse impact on you and your family. If you do not learn what is truly ailing you, you cannot take advantage of early treatment options. Knowing that your illness could possibly have been treated with proper medical care can be devastating.
Talk to a Toledo misdiagnosis medical malpractice lawyer at Zoll & Kranz, LLC, to learn how we can fight for justice for what you and your family have gone through.