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Do I have a failure to diagnose (and/or medical malpractice) case?
Anonymous8 views4 answers
I was having reoccurring symptoms and kept going back to my physician and the local ER multiple times over the course of 8-9 months. I was told each time I had an infection and sent home with medication. The medication did not help my symptoms, so I would go back to the physician or ER and they would then again, tell me I had an infection and send me home with medication.This happened a handful of times before my physician prescribed me a steroid that cause my symptoms become extremely bad, and after going to the ER yet again, it was discovered I had been fighting an auto-immune, neuro-muscular disease all this time. I am wondering if this could be a failure to diagnose case, as none of the nurse practitioners or physicians I saw connected my symptoms with the disease I have or preformed tests to attempt to figure out why I was having these symptoms so often.
Very sorry to hear about your issues in treatment. Hope that things are getting better with proper diagnosis and care. Unclear on what your actual damages are at this time based on facts - however, you should protect your best interests moving forward in all aspects - consider consult with a medical malpractice and/or injury attorney in your jurisdiction with the specifics of matter and for medical file review. Click on "Find A Lawyer" tab above and you will be able to figure out best options. Moving forward, the costs of bringing a medical malpractice case run high / quickly and many times make it cost prohibitive based on injury / damages and outcome. Great that you are alert to rights and responsibilities of all parties involved. Certainly have rights and options. Regarding medical malpractice, generally it is is professional negligence: 1) caused by health care provider's act or omission where treatment provided falls below accepted standard of practice in the medical community; AND 2) causes injury or death to the patient, with most cases involving medical error.
If, for some reason, you decide to communicate your concerns to treating health care provider(s), do so in writing, now rather than later. Document everything in writing to create paper trail to support claim(s) on your behalf or others. You may also wish to contact (in writing) Medical Provider's Administration (if there is one) and report the incident to internal investigation and review. Or, can contact the State Department of Health to report the incident.
If many physicians missed the same condition it is hard to argue that they all departed from accepted standards of care. Moreover, is there any consequence of the delayed diagnosis other than being undiagnosed for 8-9 months? Tough liability case to prove deviations from accepted practice and tenuous damages case possibly as well. Good luck enlisting the help of counsel.
I'm sorry to hear about your situation. It is impossible to answer your question given the facts. In order to better assess your situation, I would recommend you speak with a medical malpractice attorney concerning your situation.
Maybe. All of the facts would have to be evaluated to determine if you have grounds to pursue a malpractice case. Doctors are not perfect, nor does the law require them to be. However, they must act reasonably to try to make a correct diagnosis. This includes ordering tests that most doctors would order under similar circumstances.
