Maryland Failed Diagnosis Lawyers
While there is nothing wrong with trusting your doctor or general physician, we have to take into account the fact that even they can make errors and mistakes. Mistakes, such as lack of proper treatment, and/or malpractice that makes a condition even more severe are quite common. Here, we will give you a general outline on erroneous medical diagnoses and their legal implications.
General Outline
Generally, if there has been a delay or failure in diagnosing a disease or condition that has resulted in an injury or progression of the disease, which could have been avoided with a timely diagnosis, the medical professional(s) may be held accountable. As such, most doctors across the U.S. are trained to establish differential diagnoses in order to evaluate the probability of the possible cause of symptoms.
The important factor in evaluating a failed diagnosis for malpractice is to determine what diagnosis a doctor, under similar conditions, would have made as to the potential causes of the symptoms. Hence, if a doctor fails to consider make the a reasonable diagnosis, the doctor may be held accountable for medical malpractice.
That being said, medical malpractice can be difficult to prove, especially in cases involving cancer patients where a failed timely diagnose results in metastasis – the spread of the disease to other tissues and organs.
Failure to Provide Treatment
If a patient is treated for conditions that they do not have, the treatment and/or medication may actually harm the patient. When this occurs, the actual condition also goes untreated.
The most common reason why malpractice occurs is because the doctor is dismissing the obvious symptoms as minor, temporary, or unworthy of proper treatment. Such a situation may lead to the condition worsening and further injury or harm to the patient.
Erroneous treatments, on the other hand, generally occur because of failed diagnosis. Then again, if a doctor has properly diagnosed the condition, he/she may still fail to treat it properly.
Getting Help
Having a condition or injury is bad enough, but having a doctor that fails to diagnose it properly is even worse. While it’s not easy to determine whether or not a medical professional has acted properly, it is certainly possible to make this determination. No doctor should be allowed to leave a person in a condition that is worse than what they had before.
If you or a loved one is suffering the results of a failed diagnosis and medical malpractice, let the attorneys at Altmark, Rotter & Trock, LLP take care of the proceedings. Please call us for a free consultation at (410) 783-9230, or toll-free outside of Baltimore at 1-(888) 966-5566.