You might have a legitimate medical malpractice claim if your doctor failed to timely diagnose cancer. The specific answer, though, is largely dependent on the facts of your case. Please speak with a skilled medical malpractice attorney now to determine if you can bring a malpractice claim to recover compensation for your injuries.
How Could a Doctor Misdiagnose Cancer?
There are several reasons for why a doctor could fail to diagnose cancer. These include:
- Your medical conditions/symptoms are associated with some other condition not related to cancer,
- Your cancer is a type that is not easy to detect,
- Your doctor confused benign conditions with malignant conditions,
- Your doctor misinterpreted test results, and
- Your doctor confused your test results with another patient.
What is Your Doctor’s Duty?
Your doctor has a legal duty to provide quality medical care and make proper diagnosis to prevent harm. A doctor violates this duty when he/she provides a level of care that is below this standard. Note that not all instances of medical error amount to malpractice. The specific facts of your case will have the ultimate say on whether your doctor’s care fell below the industry’s standard.
In helping to show that there was an act of malpractice, a medical malpractice attorney may present any of the following evidence:
- Your medical chart,
- Your doctor’s notes and comments,
- Test results,
- Medical records,
- Prescriptions, and
- Expert testimony.
When Can a Failure to Detect Cancer Lead to Malpractice?
In the context of failing to diagnose cancer, any of the following acts on the part of a physician may lead to malpractice:
- Dismissing your complaints or description of any ailments,
- Failing to identify symptoms that were apparent and suggested the possibility of cancer,
- Failing to use proper procedures when testing for cancer,
- Failing to order appropriate medical tests,
- Misinterpreting test results, CT scans, and/or X-rays, and
- Failing to refer you to a cancer specialist.
Note, too, that in determining whether your doctor’s acts (or omissions) amount to malpractice, it is important to consider whether a timely diagnosis would have led to a better outcome. For example, if your doctor failed to diagnose cancer but then made a timely diagnosis two days later, and the delay did not result in a worsening of conditions, you probably do not have a valid claim. You likely do, though, if a failure to diagnose came two years before a true diagnosis and your conditions grew significantly worse.
Contact Otorowski Morrow & Golden, PLLC
Please know that our firm is here to help if you suffered damages because of a doctor’s failure to properly diagnose cancer. Otorowski Morrow & Golden, PLLC provides free consultations to all our potential clients. The attorneys at our law firm also have over 120 years of combined experience representing injured parties in medical malpractice cases. They never back down to insurers and fight for their clients’ interests every step of the way. Do yourself a favor and contact them now for the quality legal representation you deserve.