Recovery of Patient Damages for Incorrect Diagnosis

The ability to file a viable malpractice suit, as well as recover compensation, stemming from an incorrect diagnosis requires patients to prove damages resultant from the incorrect diagnosis. In a legal context, damages include any losses, both economic and non-economic, suffered by a patient as the result of a misdiagnosis. In the context of misdiagnosis or other diagnostic errors, patients are tasked with proving a specific set of damages relevant to incorrect diagnosis cases.

Proving Patient Damages in Cases of Diagnostic Error

Specifically for cases involving claims of diagnostic error, a patient must prove the negligent incorrect diagnosis caused the patient’s correctly diagnosed condition to worsen and affected the impact of future treatment of the condition detrimentally. Delay in treatment damages are not the only necessary harm done to a patient, and in certain cases, the treatment regimen endured as the result of an incorrect diagnosis may have also actively harmed the patient, aside from delaying treatment of the correctly diagnosed condition.

Damages, should a diagnosis be deemed negligent, may include any number of financial losses incurred by a patient following the wrong diagnosis. In addition, damage claims can attempt to compensate patients for further medical damage occurring to their bodies during the inappropriate treatment of an illness or from lack of treatment in an adequate timeframe. Furthermore, other non-economic damage claims may relate to emotional distress, anxiety, and other psychological issues stemming from a missed diagnosis, or from the inability to gain a correct diagnosis. It should be noted that damage claims in misdiagnosis cases are highly case-specific and can only be determined on a case by case basis with information provided by patients and instruction from their legal counsel.

Proving Errors in Diagnosis

 In general, diagnostic error is a term outlining any wrong diagnosis made by medical professionals, however, the following types of diagnostic error all may constitute grounds for a patient to recover damages from negligent parties, including:

• Missed diagnosis, which entails a medical professional confirming a patient’s good health and lack of medical issues, when in reality, the patient is actually suffering from a given condition

• Wrong diagnosis, otherwise known as misdiagnosis, entails a medical professional offering a diagnosis to the patient and starting treatment, which does not actually address or name the condition actually afflicting a patient

• Delayed diagnosis, entails a prolonged period before a medical professional reaches the conclusion of a correct diagnosis, during which damages may occur

• Failure to note complications, which entails a medical professional properly ascertaining a diagnosis, but failing to account for common complications and other issues that may jeopardize a patient’s health

• Failure to diagnose a related condition, which involves a doctor making the correct diagnosis, but failing to diagnose another disease afflicting a patient

Getting Legal Help with Recovery of Patient Damages

In malpractice claims, a patient may be able to recover damages through a settlement offer or through a judgment award in the civil courts. The process to gain an award or settlement offer, however, will require the assistance and representation of a medical malpractice attorney, who understands how to litigate misdiagnosis cases on behalf of patients. Once a patient believes they have been a victim of a misdiagnosis, they should consult with legal counsel to begin constructing viable patient claims for damages.