Terre Haute Failure to Diagnose Lawyer

You may have heard stories about surgeons leaving instruments inside patients or amputating the wrong body part, but the most common type of medical malpractice is failing to diagnose a medical condition. The physicians you consult owe you a level of care that amounts to what any responsible physician in a similar setting would provide. Often, your life is in their hands, and you want to trust that they act proficiently to find out what is wrong with you and cure it.

Unfortunately, that is sometimes not the case. If you have a condition that is worsening and your doctor cannot pinpoint the problem, or if a second doctor immediately understood after running tests your original doctor failed to run, you may benefit from speaking with one of our experienced medical malpractice attorneys. A Terre Haute failure to diagnose lawyer could strategize with you to determine if there is a legal path to take.

Reasons a Physician Might Fail to Diagnose a Serious Condition

With modern medicine making giant strides forward, patients often think their physicians have all the answers, but some conditions are so rare that many physicians have never seen a patient with them. Physicians are not negligent because they are unfamiliar with a rare disease, but they are negligent if they fail to acknowledge that fact and do nothing. Some common failures to diagnose include:

• Failing to prescribe follow-up care.
• Delaying sending a patient to a specialist.
• Misinterpreting the results of tests ordered.
• Entering incorrect information into a patient’s chart.
• Assuming a tumor is benign after conducting incorrect tests.
• Dismissing a patient’s complaints and explanations of symptoms.
• Failing to order additional tests when the initial tests do not lead to a diagnosis.

Years of schooling, completing a residency, and adhering to professional and ethical standards are a strong basis for all physicians to provide excellent care to patients. When they fail to do so because they are distracted, uninterested, in a hurry, or do not take a patient’s complaints seriously, our Terre Haute failure to diagnose attorneys are ready to step in, investigate a claim, and build a strong case for compensation.

The Elements of Negligence in Medical Malpractice Claims

The four elements of negligence are duty, breach, causation, and injury. Our Terre Haute lawyers must prove all four elements to win compensation for the losses attributed to the failure to diagnose, which may include:

• All medical bills and treatments.
• Wages lost while recuperating.
• Ongoing pain from ignored symptoms.
• The emotional and psychological trauma of not knowing what is wrong.

When physicians act below the standards of acceptable behavior for reasonable and competent doctors, they breach their duty to provide excellent care to patients. If that breach—in this case, a failure to diagnose—causes a patient’s condition to worsen when it would not have if it had been treated properly, or additional injuries are incurred, the elements of negligence are established.

How Long Does a Patient Have to File a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit?

Indiana law gives patients harmed by medical malpractice, including a failure to diagnose properly, a deadline from the date of the injury to file a claim for compensation. If the misdiagnosed patient is a minor, the deadline is extended. Talk to one of our Terre Haute failure to diagnose attorneys for help understanding what legal timeframe applies to a specific case.

A Terre Haute Failure to Diagnose Attorney Guides You to a Resolution

Medical malpractice should not happen. Physicians and other healthcare providers study for years, take oaths, are guided by strict rules, and owe patients the highest degree of care possible in each situation. But it does happen, and when it happens to you, you will want attorneys such as ours representing you with the expertise and skill to handle these complex cases.

A medical malpractice claim begins with a filing that is reviewed by a medical panel to determine if you have a case. Deadlines are different, and the time you have to bring a claim is not the same as an average personal injury claim. Contact a Terre Haute failure to diagnose lawyer at Fleschner, Stark, Tanoos & Newlin to get started on your claim today.