As part of any successful claim involving medical misdiagnosis, whether resolved by settlement or through the courts, patients and their legal counsel must prove several critical elements of a viable claim, including that medical misdiagnosis did occur.
Universal Differential Diagnosis Method Used by Medical Professionals
In the medical field, medical professionals use what is known as the differential diagnosis method to rule and confirm a given diagnosis. The process starts with statements about symptoms made by patients and a general visual inspection of the patient. With this information available, a medical professional will determine a list of potential diagnoses, in order of probability. From here, per the differential diagnosis process, the medical professional must rule out, or confirm, a given diagnosis through further testing, including looking into a patient’s medical history, further evaluating the patient, requesting lab tests, or performing tests on a patient. In general, any medical professional will adhere to some variation of this process when making a diagnosis.
Proving a Misdiagnosis Occurred
From a legal perspective, especially one attempting to prove misdiagnosis has occurred, the list of potential diagnoses and attempts to confirm or rule out each taken by a medical professional is crucial to establishing whether a misdiagnosis actually occurred. Naturally, most patients will determine whether a misdiagnosis occurs based on whether their symptoms improve or worsen, and more definitively, based upon the opinion of another medical professional. From a legal perspective, this does not necessarily prove misdiagnosis has occurred.
Determining Misdiagnosis as Negligent
In order for a patient to make viable claims related to a misdiagnosis, they must prove the doctor issuing the misdiagnosis did not provide the patient with a standard duty of care. In essence, without a notable breach in standard duty of care, patients will not have a solid malpractice claim. In any given medical situation, a misdiagnosis can occur, but from a legal perspective, a negligent misdiagnosis is one that does not adequately adhere to differential diagnosis standards used by other medical professionals working in the same field, when presented with the same evidence. Going back to the example of a patient seeking another doctor’s option, this may not be sufficient to prove negligence in misdiagnosis, as the second doctor has at their disposal additional information offered by the patient, as well as the error of the first doctor to use when making a diagnosis. Patients must show that the first doctor violated a standard duty of care when making their first diagnosis, with the evidence presented to them at the time. An example of negligence, however, would be in the case when the first physician failed to take reasonable action, at the standard of care, to rule out a given diagnosis, which a second doctor later came to conclude.
Proving Negligence in Misdiagnosis Cases
Most medical malpractice cases, especially those involving misdiagnosis, will require expert witness testimony regarding the differential diagnosis process and what the applicable standard of care would have been during the diagnosis process. Furthermore, documentation and other medical records related to a given visit must be obtained to support claims of negligence, as well as most likely deposition statements made by potentially liable parties in a misdiagnosis claims case.
Getting Legal Help with Proving Misdiagnosis
In any civil action, including medical misdiagnosis claims, the burden of proof is the responsibility of the plaintiff, or patient. Given the complex nature of the medical profession, proving negligence will require an attorney with experience in handling medical malpractice lawsuits on the behalf of patients.
