Attorney Referrals

Michigan Failure to Diagnose Lawyer

failure to diagnose

Dedicated To Recovering Losses From Failures To Diagnose

Many people put their trust, and their lives, in the hands of medical professionals every day. However, when they fail to recognize or diagnose a serious malady, these trained health care providers can cause severe harm or injury. When this happens, injured victims need a Michigan failure to diagnose lawyer on their side.

If you or a loved one suffered injury or pain because of a medical professional’s failure to diagnose an illness, Lipton Law can help. With over 100 years of combined experience, our Southfield medical malpractice attorneys are equipped to hold negligent medical professionals or institutions responsible for negligence. We will fight to secure maximum compensation for your injuries. To schedule a free consultation with us and establish an attorney-client relationship, please call 248-557-1688 today.

What Is a Failure to Diagnose?

A failure to diagnose occurs when a doctor fails to diagnose a patient’s medical condition. Patients file these medical malpractice lawsuits when they experience actual injury from the doctor’s failure to diagnose a condition. Similar examples of medical malpractice cases include delayed diagnosis and wrong diagnosis.

Was It a Failure to Diagnose or a Delay in Diagnosis?

Many people confuse a failure to diagnose with a delayed diagnosis or wrong diagnosis. A delayed diagnosis occurs when a patient goes to the doctor for their symptoms, only to have their symptoms go undiagnosed for too long. This can result in delayed treatment and worsening of the patient’s condition.

Can You Sue a Doctor for Failure to Diagnose?

failure to diagnose lawsuit

Yes. If your doctor failed to diagnose you and your condition worsens because of it, you might have a valid medical malpractice case. Each medical condition has its own window of time during which treatment should begin. If a doctor fails to correctly diagnose someone in time, it could lead to serious complications, mountains of medical expenses, worsening medical conditions, and even wrongful death.

Depending on the circumstances of your case, you may be entitled to fair compensation. However, cases like these require both the presence of the doctor’s negligence and actual damages to the patient.

What Happens When a Doctor Misses a Diagnosis?

There are a number of possibilities for patients when a physician fails to give a timely diagnosis for a patient’s symptoms. If the doctor’s failure to diagnose results in medical problems, unnecessary treatment, no treatment, or if the patient died as a result, the doctor can be held liable. Ultimately, the damage that the patient suffers depends on a number of factors, particularly the type of health condition that the doctor failed to diagnose.

Common Conditions Doctors Fail to Diagnose

Many conditions are very easy to manage if a doctor provides a correct diagnosis early enough. However, others require prompt treatment and careful medical attention. Below, we outline some of the most common conditions that have a missed diagnosis or delayed diagnosis in medicine.

An aneurysm in the brain is one of the most dangerous places for these medical events to happen. While they can happen anywhere in any blood vessel, brain and chest aneurysms require immediate care to avoid serious damage, coma, or even patient death.

These are masses of blood that get stuck in and block the blood vessels. One serious form of blood clots is called “deep vein thrombosis.” Sometimes, clots have no symptoms or their symptoms mimic other serious conditions. Failing to give a correct diagnosis could lead to strokes, heart attacks, or even patient death.

A delayed cancer diagnosis can be extremely harmful to patients. An early correct diagnosis of cancer is essential to receive proper care. A failure to diagnose often brings a promise of more painful treatments, more invasive treatments, and a lower chance of a full recovery. This is particularly true in breast cancer cases. In order to prevent a missed diagnosis, doctors should do the following. Make a note if your doctor failed to do any of the following.

  • Ordering cancer screening tests routinely
  • Ordering the appropriate tests, such as blood tests or a biopsy
  • Interpreting diagnostic tests correctly

Unfortunately, failure to diagnose heart attacks is more common than you might think. This is particularly true for women, whose heart attack symptoms vary from male symptoms. Heart attacks are basically blockages in one or more arteries in the heart. They deprive the body of vital oxygen. 

In order to avoid extensive damage to the body, a doctor must quickly diagnose the condition and restore blood flow to the rest of the body. One of the most common reasons doctors miss heart attack diagnoses is that not every patient experiences chest pain. Make a note if your doctor failed to do the following.

  • Performed an EKG to monitor heart rhythm
  • Gave blood clot drugs to the patient
  • Conducted a blood test

These are blood clot blockages in the pulmonary arteries in the lungs. This causes a lack of blood flow and oxygen to the lungs, which then prevents the lungs from giving oxygen to the rest of the body. Failing to diagnose a pulmonary embolism can be life-threatening. Therefore, it is extremely important to achieve a timely diagnosis. Otherwise, the patient may experience fainting spells, organ failure, and other major problems.

Hospital malpractice is one common cause of the spread of infections in hospitals. However, even a doctor’s negligence can cause sepsis and other hospital-acquired infections (HAIs). Those patients who have recently undergone surgery are particularly susceptible to HAIs and sepsis. Failing to uphold proper hygiene standards can lead to serious infections. The longer an infection is left untreated, the higher the morbidity rate for patients. HAIs can lead to sepsis, which can lead to septic shock.

These are a leading cause of both death and disability in the United States, according to the National Institutes of Health. Nearly 800,000 people suffer from strokes every year, with around 137,000 of those people dying from them.

Strokes occur when the oxygen-rich blood supply to the brain is interrupted. The longer the blockage lasts, the more rapidly the cells of the brain begin to die. A fast and correct diagnosis is essential to reduce the damage caused by a stroke. A failure to diagnose a stroke can lead to paralysis, a loss of motor functions, seizures, and death. It is crucial for doctors to order imaging tests of the brain to diagnose cases of stroke.

What Should I Do After a Failure to Diagnose?

can you sue a doctor for failure to diagnose

It is an unfortunate reality that medical malpractice occurs more often than many medical professionals will admit. If you believe that your medical team failed to give you a correct diagnosis, you might have a valid medical malpractice lawsuit. 

The first step in a successful lawsuit is contacting the experienced Michigan personal injury lawyers at Lipton Law. We have extensive experience handling medical malpractice cases from all over the state of Michigan. We offer an initial free consultation for all of our clients since we recognize that you likely have mounting expenses from your case. In order to determine if you have a valid failure to diagnose case, please contact our law firm as soon as possible.

Combat the Repercussions of a Failed Diagnosis

Failure to diagnose an illness can have serious or even fatal consequences. For many serious conditions, including cancer and sepsis, an early diagnosis gives patients the best chance at recovering. If a negligent medical professional does not give you the proper diagnosis, you may be entitled to recover damages through a medical malpractice claim.

You can rely on us to manage all elements of your claim, including:

  • Establishing the existence of a doctor-patient relationship
  • Proving the medical professional breached the duty of that relationship
  • Determining the cause for the failure to diagnose
  • Providing evidence of damages, injury, and loss

You and your family should not have to suffer through this alone. We will stand by you every step of the way, protecting your rights and best interests. We are the attentive legal allies you need during a difficult time.

How Does a Failure to Diagnose Lawsuit Work?

After meeting with our failure to diagnose attorneys, we will begin working on your medical malpractice lawsuit. First, the plaintiff and the defendant both exchange discovery. The discovery phase of a lawsuit involves requesting, gathering, and exchanging information between both sides.

Then, medical experts and other witnesses will testify. Both sides will have their own witnesses and experts that will testify on their behalf. Medical experts are extremely important witnesses in cases involving diagnostic errors, misdiagnosis, and other forms of medical malpractice. This is because an expert witness generally aims to establish what a competent doctor should have done with the same level of training and experience under similar circumstances. 

Your evidence basically aims to show that your physician failed to uphold the accepted and appropriate standard of care in your case. Work closely with your attorney and all expert witnesses to build a strong case. Additionally, it is important to pay attention to the medical malpractice statute of limitations Michigan.

How Do You Prove Failure to Diagnose?

As with other medical malpractice cases, failure to diagnose lawsuits often require certain elements in order to prove medical negligence. There are four main elements you must prove, which we list below.

  • A doctor-patient relationship existed between you and the defendant.
  • The doctor breached that duty by acting negligently.
  • The patient’s injury was caused by that breach.
  • You suffered actual damages from the physician’s failure to diagnose you.

Statute of Limitations for a Failure to Diagnose Lawsuit

As with other personal injury and medical malpractice cases, failure to diagnose cases have a statute of limitations. According to Michigan law, injured patients have two years from the date of the failed diagnosis to file a lawsuit. If a patient fails to file a claim within this two year period, they will be barred from receiving compensation for their injuries or illness.

What Compensation Can I Get from a Failure to Diagnose Lawsuit?

It’s important to understand the potential compensation you could receive when medical professionals fail to give a correct diagnosis to patients. If you or someone you love suffered injuries due to failed doctor diagnoses, you may be entitled to the following compensation.

  • Current and future medical bills
  • Lost income or lost wages
  • Temporary or permanent disability 
  • Scarring or disfigurement
  • Pain and suffering
  • Mental and emotional anguish
  • Loss of enjoyment of life
  • Loss of consortium

Failure to Diagnose Lawsuit Settlement

Because medical malpractice lawsuits are often difficult and expensive to litigate, the majority of those cases settle outside of court. Hiring an experienced Michigan medical malpractice attorney from our law firm will ensure that you have quality representation. We refuse to accept lowball settlement offers. Because of this, we will fight tooth and nail to get you the full and fair compensation you deserve for your injuries. Failure to diagnose malpractice settlements can vary greatly in their amounts. Below, we list some of the factors that could affect your settlement.

  • The severity of your illness or injury
  • Costs associated with medical treatments
  • Extent of the doctor’s negligence
  • Lost income and lost wages
  • State caps on medical malpractice claims (Michigan has a cap of $476,000 for noneconomic damages in standard cases, with a higher cap of $851,000 for permanent injury cases.)
  • Your ability to continue working

Contact a Failure to Diagnose Lawyer today

Our attorneys are passionate about helping people in situations just like yours. We can provide you with the unyielding dedication you deserve to try and make things right. Call our Southfield law office at 248-557-1688 or contact us online to find out how we can help you.

Other medical malpractice cases we handle include the following: