When Delayed Diagnosis Becomes a Life-Altering Mistake

When an individual does not feel well and decides to visit a doctor, they usually trust and depend on that doctor to correctly and promptly provide a diagnosis and successfully treat them for their condition. As patients, we should be able to expect as much from our providers. These professionals must go through years of intense education, qualifying tests, and supervised experience.

Unfortunately, sometimes even the most experienced doctors fail to diagnose a serious condition quickly enough. When this happens, the condition can become worse, potentially leading to life-altering complications or unnecessary tests and treatments. If this happened to you or a loved one, you might have the basis for a Washington, D.C., medical malpractice lawsuit. Speak with an attorney today to learn your options.

Examples of delayed diagnosis leading to life-altering mistakes

Sometimes people feel like a delayed diagnosis is not worth worrying about, or they may even blame themselves for not being able to properly articulate their symptoms to their provider. People may even feel guilty for blaming or pointing fingers at their doctors or others who failed to properly diagnose them in time. Sadly, those errors might have led to life-altering complications and impairments. To help you understand the severity of this issue, here are a few examples of delayed diagnosis:

• An individual continued to experience several strange symptoms after eating, such as pain, discomfort, intense bloating, nausea, heartburn, and indigestion. He knew these symptoms were abnormal, which helped him decide to visit his doctor to receive a diagnosis. The doctor brushed off his symptoms and told him that it sounded like he had the stomach flu, which should eventually take its course and pass. The patient took his doctor’s word for it and returned home. A month or two later, the patient’s symptoms were still occurring and continued to become worse. Now, he frequently vomits, has trouble eating or keeping food down, and has lost significant weight. He returned back to the doctor who noticed the changes and finally started to run tests. The tests determined that the man was suffering from stomach cancer. The condition became much worse than it originally was because the doctor downplayed the symptoms during the earlier visit. The delayed diagnosis complicated the treatment options putting the man at increased risk of serious complications.
• Another individual continued to experience chest pains, shortness of breath, frequent dizziness, excessive sweating, nausea, and vomiting. He went to the nearest Washington, DC, hospital to inform them about the symptoms he was experiencing. However, the emergency room doctor noticed that the patient has a family history of severe anxiety and indigestion issues. Therefore, instead of running in-depth tests, he prescribed the patient with anxiety and indigestion prescriptions and sent him home. Later that evening, his wife called an ambulance because he had a heart attack. After being rushed back to the hospital, it was determined that he had heart disease and never needed anxiety or indigestion medications to begin with.
• A young woman was having recurring symptoms, such as vomiting, nausea, headaches, and mood swings. She visited her primary care doctor to discuss these symptoms and receive treatment for them. The doctor stereotyped her as a young and overall healthy person. Therefore, he assumed that she was just experiencing a severe migraine and sent her home to get some rest. However, within a few hours, she ended up at the hospital for a stroke, which caused her to have memory loss, severe speech and swallowing issues, loss of certain senses, and more.

What are the devastating consequences of delayed diagnosis?

Many different devastating consequences may arise from a delayed diagnosis, including:

• Permanent injuries and conditions
• Severe and life-long complications
• Delayed treatment
• Unneeded tests, treatments, and medications
• Worsening conditions that can become debilitating
• Physical and mental disabilities
• Loss of senses, such as eyesight or hearing
• Permanent organ damage
• Serious illnesses and infections
• Mobility issues and paralysis
• Amputations
• Brain damage
• Chronic pain
• Death

What types of illnesses or conditions are often diagnosed late?

While any type of illness or condition may be diagnosed late, some are more common than others, such as:

• Cancer
• Strokes
• Heart attacks
• Aneurysms
• Sepsis
• Pneumonia
• Meningitis
• Brain hemorrhage
• Kidney or organ failure
• Asthma

These conditions have similar symptoms to other conditions. For example, a heart attack may mimic symptoms similar to a panic attack, the symptoms of an infection may be confused with the flu, a stroke may look similar to a migraine, and asthma may be mistaken for bronchitis or the common cold. However, it is the medical provider’s duty to fully evaluate the patient, decipher their condition, and ensure that they receive a proper diagnosis quickly enough to start treatment before it becomes worse or life-threatening.

Common reasons for delayed diagnosis

Each person’s delayed diagnosis case is unique and different. Therefore, the reason behind your delayed diagnosis may differ from another person’s. The following are some of the most common reasons for delayed diagnosis:

• Lack of experience
• Failure to conduct or order testing
• Overstaffing issues, rushing, and lack of time
• Failure to read over the patient’s records, charts, and medical history
• Record-keeping and documentation issues
• Failure to communicate or retrieve enough information from the patient
• Failure to read or follow up on test results
• Failure to research and consider all possible conditions and illnesses
• Lack of communication between staff
• Stereotyping the patient or assuming false information

How can victims of delayed diagnosis seek compensation for long-term damages?

If you recently experienced a delayed diagnosis that you believe is considered medical malpractice, you may be able to file a medical malpractice claim. Through this claim, you can seek compensation for your long-term damages. However, you must be able to prove that your delayed diagnosis occurred due to the negligence of the doctor, nurse, or another party involved. The four key elements that you must establish to prove this include:

1. Duty of care: You were an established patient of the provider or facility that you visited for a diagnosis. Therefore, they owed you a duty of care.
2. Breach of duty: The provider or facility failed to reasonably diagnose or treat you in a timely manner, which means you did not receive the standard level of care that you deserved. This is considered negligence.
3. Causation: The negligent behavior and actions the provider or facility committed directly caused your delayed diagnosis.
4. Damages: You experienced a worsening condition, complications, injuries, chronic pain, and other losses that you would have never experienced if you received a prompt diagnosis.

The amount of compensation that you may receive depends on a variety of factors, such as how severe your injuries or complications are, how much income you earned before the delayed diagnosis, how many parties are liable, whether you will ever be able to return to work or live a normal life again, what type of treatment you may need in the future to adapt to your condition and more.

Who can be held legally responsible for delayed diagnosis?

Depending on the facts and circumstances of your case, various parties could be held legally responsible for your delayed diagnosis. Here are some of the parties that your lawyer may investigate and file a claim against:

• Doctors
• Nurses
• Hospitals
• Radiologists
• Laboratory technicians
• Surgeons
• Pediatricians
• Physician assistants
• Nurse practitioners
• Pharmacists
• Dentists
• Office personnel

Please contact Paulson & Nace, PLLC, through this contact form or by calling our office.