Can I Sue for a Delayed Diagnosis?

Posted Friday, August 13, 2021 by Chris Thayer

Often, when we think about medical malpractice we think about something that was done wrong, such as an incorrect diagnosis or a mistake made in surgery. However, in some situations, inaction by a doctor can be just as harmful to a patient. In the case of cardiac symptoms, a failure of a doctor to act quickly in effectively diagnosing and treating the problem, or the failure of a medical facility, such as an emergency room, in quickly admitting and accurately assessing the patient, can have fatal consequences. While some mistakes or delays in treatment are not illegal, others are. A diagnosis should be made within a reasonable amount of time from when the patient presents with symptoms. If your delayed diagnosis was the result of medical negligence and resulted in serious harm to you, you may have legal options available. If your delayed diagnosis was an act of medical malpractice, a personal injury lawsuit can allow you to recover all damages related to the injury. A successful personal injury lawsuit restores you to the position you would have been in had the medical malpractice never occurred.

*Dangers of Delayed Diagnosis *Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. Often, prompt diagnosis is the only thing that enables life-saving treatment. When someone is experiencing heart attack symptoms and seeks medical help only to be turned away or assured that it is indigestion or muscle pain, it can be devastating when they later suffer a heart attack that could have been prevented. Other serious illnesses, such as cancer, require prompt and effective treatment. When doctors ignore symptoms or fail to perform necessary tests, they can miss the entire window of opportunity for treatment. They also take that choice away from the patient. Other times, doctors may not take prompt action, or may continue to write off certain symptoms. For instance, a doctor may write off coughing as recurrent upper respiratory infections for years only for the patient to learn seven years later that she has had lung cancer the whole time.

*When is a Delayed Diagnosis Medical Malpractice? *Sometimes a prompt diagnosis is not possible. The process of diagnosing someone’s medical condition can be complicated. Conditions present differently in every patient and co-morbid conditions, medications, and a myriad of other factors can all complicate the diagnosis process. Not every delay in diagnosis amounts to medical malpractice. However, when the delay in diagnosis was the result of medical negligence and was the cause of serious harm, then you have a strong claim for medical malpractice.

*Talk to a Seattle Medical Malpractice Attorney *If you or a loved one have suffered serious injury or financial harm as a result of a negligent delay in diagnosis or failure to treat you may have a claim for medical malpractice. Contact the experienced medical malpractice attorneys at Pivotal Law Group today and schedule a consultation to find out how we can help you get the compensation to which you are entitled. Serving Seattle, Bellevue, Kent, Renton, Burien, Mercer Island, Issaquah, and the greater Washington State area, we are ready to fight for you.