Medical malpractice can take many forms at a hospital or health care center, including the failure to diagnose – a medical error that can lead to a disastrous delay in treatment. Medical malpractice means a practitioner has been negligent or breached the professional standard of care.
If you or a loved one has been hurt due to the negligent failure of a physician to promptly diagnose your illness or medical condition, help is available at Goldenberg Lauricella, PLLC. Contact our Minneapolis medical malpractice lawyers at (612) 333-4662 for a free consultation about your legal situation.
Why Choose Us?
- We have secured life-changing results for life-changing injuries. Our medical malpractice team recently achieved a $29 million verdict for a birth injury victim.
- Our lawyers have a reputation for providing an exceptional level of care and service to each and every client we represent. We know what you’re going through and are here to help.
- There are no fees unless we win. If your failure-to-diagnose claim doesn’t result in compensation, you won’t pay us any attorney’s fees.
What Can a Medical Malpractice Lawyer in Minneapolis Do for You?
The failure to diagnose can be a form of medical malpractice, meaning the failure of a health care provider to meet the required standard of patient care. Medical malpractice claims in Minneapolis involve many complex and highly technical legal elements. In addition, the injured patient often has to go up against powerful medical facilities and their insurance providers.
The most effective way to properly handle your claim, protect your legal rights and avoid the stress of a lawsuit is by hiring an experienced medical malpractice attorney in Minneapolis to represent you. A lawyer can identify signs of medical malpractice while reviewing your situation. Then, your lawyer can collect evidence to support your claim and file the paperwork before the state’s deadline.
Your attorney will accurately calculate your damages to seek a fair amount from the negligent health care provider. While you focus on healing from your injury or illness, your lawyer can negotiate a settlement with an insurance adjuster. If needed, an attorney can hire experts and litigate your case in court to deliver justice for the negligent failure to diagnose.
What Does Failure to Diagnose Mean?
The failure to diagnose describes a physician failing to come to a timely or accurate diagnosis – or any diagnosis at all – after spending a reasonable amount of time treating a patient. The failure to diagnose often leads to the failure to treat. It means that a patient goes without health information that could otherwise have led to faster treatment and a more positive prognosis for recovery.
The failure to diagnose is especially harmful when a condition is time-sensitive, such as cancer that will spread and may become terminal (untreatable) if not detected and treated promptly. Diagnostic errors and the failure to treat a serious medical condition can lead to catastrophic injury and premature death.
When Is the Failure to Diagnose or Treat Considered Medical Malpractice?
Physicians in Minnesota are not required to make a diagnosis every time when treating patients – or to make correct diagnoses 100 percent of the time. However, they are obligated to take reasonable care to come to a timely and accurate diagnosis to the best of their ability and according to the medical industry’s standards of care.
If a doctor falls short of the standard of care when attempting to diagnose a patient, it can lead to avoidable diagnostic errors and the negligent failure to diagnose or treat the person in need. If evidence shows that a reasonably prudent physician most likely would have made a diagnosis, a medical malpractice case can be filed by the injured patient or surviving family members.
Common Medical Mistakes That Lead to Failure to Diagnose
Physicians can make many careless mistakes or errors in judgment that result in the failure to diagnose an illness or condition. Examples of medical malpractice that can lead to diagnostic errors include:
- Ignoring signs and symptoms of a health condition
- Failing to order the correct diagnostic tests
- Misreading test results
- Failing to communicate with members of the patient’s medical team
- Ignoring the patient’s medical history
- Failing to consider alternative diagnoses
- Failing to refer the patient to a specialist
- A nurse failing to communicate observations to a physician
Skipping steps, failing to take the time to properly examine a patient, disorganized or understaffed hospitals, and ignored patient concerns can all contribute to a missed diagnosis. In these cases, the victim has the right to file a medical malpractice claim in pursuit of financial compensation.
Elements of a Failure-to-Diagnose Claim
Certain elements of proof must be proven with a “preponderance of the evidence” for a medical malpractice civil suit in Minneapolis to succeed. These elements are:
- A doctor-patient relationship existed between the defendant (physician or accused party) and the plaintiff (the injured person).
- The defendant breached or did not fulfill their duty of care. The defendant failed to act in a manner that a reasonably competent provider would have.
- The breach of duty (the failure to diagnose) caused the patient’s injury. Earlier intervention would have resulted in earlier treatment or a better health outcome.
- The patient suffered actual harm or damages, such as bodily harm, additional medical costs or lost wages.
In general, if a health care provider failed to accurately identify a patient’s medical condition in the amount of time that another physician would have in the same or similar circumstances, the practitioner can be held liable (financially responsible) for related harm caused to the patient.
Compensation Available
Failure to diagnose and treat is a serious issue that threatens patients’ lives in Minneapolis and throughout Minnesota. If there is evidence that the physician should have done something more to come to a timely and correct diagnosis, financial compensation or damages may be available to make the injured patient whole again.
Compensation can include:
- Present and future related medical bills
- Additional medical care needed
- Lost wages and income
- Any permanent damage or disability
- Pain, suffering and emotional distress
- Mental anguish
- Out-of-pocket costs
- Loss of consortium
- Wrongful death damages
Minnesota law allows for the recovery of both economic and non-economic damages in a medical malpractice claim against an individual or health care facility. Learn how much your case may be worth during a free initial consultation at Goldenberg Lauricella, PLLC.
Contact a Failure to Diagnose Attorney in Minneapolis Today
With over 40 years of experience representing medical malpractice clients in Minnesota and nationwide, Goldenberg Lauricella, PLLC understands how to navigate complex failure-to-diagnose cases. Contact us today to tell your story and get personalized legal advice at no cost or obligation to hire us. Call our local Minneapolis attorneys at (612) 333-4662.