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Category: Failure to Diagnose

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New England Medical Malpractice Blog

Why a Delayed Cancer Diagnosis Can Be Very Costly

A cancer diagnosis is the last thing someone wants to receive from their doctor. People typically prefer to have minor infections or treatable injuries rather than cancer. After all, cancer is notorious for being a leading cause of death.

The treatments used to battle cancer are often as debilitating as cancer itself. Radiation and chemotherapy treatments can leave people bed-bound or hospitalized for weeks on end. Although no one wants a doctor to diagnose them with cancer, a failure to diagnose their cancer can be even more devastating. When a doctor doesn’t recognize the early warning signs of cancer, their medical mistakes could end up proving very expensive for the patient involved.

Cancer can progress rapidly

Each type of cancer grows in different ways and responds to different forms of treatment. Mesothelioma, for example, starts in the organ linings. By the time people get diagnosed, they may have gone decades since their exposure to carcinogens. However, statistically they are likely to die within five years of their diagnosis because mesothelioma spreads rapidly.

Someone with skin cancer, on the other hand, might be eligible for surgical treatment and may have a very good chance of achieving remission. Effective treatment typically relies on prompt diagnosis. The more cancer spreads, the more invasive treatment has to be to eradicate it.

Patients dealing with a delayed cancer diagnosis may lose their opportunity for localized and non-invasive care. After cancer starts spreading, systemic and invasive treatments may be the only option. Not only do those treatments tend to cost substantially more, but they also make it all but impossible for someone to continue working in some cases.

Doctors should rule out cancer during diagnosis

The early stages of cancer often generate relatively generic symptoms. Someone with lymphoma might feel tired or might have a strange rash. Doctors might diagnose them with allergies or scabies instead of ruling out cancer first. Best practices for the diagnostic process include carefully ruling out serious medical issues or reaching an affirmative diagnosis. Doctors who rush to a medical conclusion do a real disservice to their patients.

Patients struggling with increased medical costs and lost wages due to undiagnosed cancer may have grounds for a medical malpractice lawsuit. Families who lose loved ones due to treatable cancers that doctors did not diagnose may also have grounds for a lawsuit. Holding medical professionals accountable for diagnostic failures can benefit those harmed by unprofessional medical conduct. A successful medical malpractice lawsuit can lead to financial compensation and also a change in how a doctor handles diagnostic matters in the future.

What’s the difference between misdiagnosis and missed diagnosis?

People who are experiencing signs of an illness or worrisome medical condition rely on doctors to diagnose them so that they can get any care that they might need. For example, a doctor’s diagnosis will be necessary if someone expects to obtain prescription medication or secure a referral to a specialist.

The average physician has extensive training on how to analyze people’s symptoms and arrive at an appropriate diagnosis. Unfortunately, diagnostic errors remain a major issue in modern healthcare. Despite how similar they may sound when said out loud, missed diagnosis and misdiagnosis are actually two very distinct forms of diagnostic failure. What is the difference?

Missed diagnosis involves total diagnostic failure

Sometimes, a patient talks to their doctor and describes symptoms they find worrisome. However, their doctor dismisses their symptoms and claims that they have no reason to worry. When doctors determine that there is no issue and send someone home without providing them with diagnostic services or treatment, what happened is a misdiagnosis.

The patient actually does have a medical condition that may turn up when a different doctor treats that patient or when they undergo an autopsy. However, the doctor who they asked for help overlooked their symptoms and failed to diagnose them.

Misdiagnosis involves the wrong conclusion

Sometimes, the mistake that a doctor makes is not that they rejected a patient’s reported symptoms and determine that they have no health issues at all but rather that they reached the wrong conclusion about what causes someone’s symptoms.

An example would involve a doctor diagnosing a patient with a common cold when they have lung cancer after years of tobacco consumption. Doctors that reach the wrong conclusion regarding the cause of someone’s condition may recommend that that patient undergo unnecessary medical interventions and may delay the patient’s access to the necessary treatment for the true health issue that they have.

Both missed diagnosis and misdiagnosis may give rise to grounds upon which to file medical malpractice claims. Provided that another doctor would have ordered additional testing or otherwise taken different diagnostic steps, a patient may have grounds to hold a doctor accountable for their diagnostic errors. Recognizing diagnosis-related medical malpractice when it happens is crucial for patients who hope to seek justice. Seeking legal guidance can help patients who are unsure of whether they are victims of a diagnostic error to receive clarity about their situation.

 

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Doctor sues his own hospital over patient misdiagnosis

For many in Providence County, the value placed on a second medical opinion may not be high due to the assumption that doctors may tend to support each other’s diagnoses no matter what. It should be remembered, however, that a doctor’s first responsibility is ensuring the well-being of his or her patients, not protecting a contemporary’s reputation. In fact, some patients may find other doctors to be among their strongest advocates in remedying any wrong done to them.

An example of this appears to be unfolding at a Kansas hospital, where a doctor employed there has taken the drastic action suing the facility itself. The driving force behind his decision was due to an error made by a colleague that resulted in a patient not only being erroneously diagnosed with cancer, but also having an organ removed unnecessarily. In his complaint, the doctor goes on to say that steps where then taken to cover up the error, even to the point that the patient still does not know about the misdiagnosis. His lawsuit goes on to say that after bringing the error to the attention of the facility’s chief medical officer, nothing was done. He ultimately chose to inform the Joint Commission of the situation, a decision which later allegedly led to the hospital president retaliating against him.

Relying on a doctor’s opinion after having been potentially misdiagnosed by another may not be easy. Yet it may provide one with the clinical evidence needed to confirm such an error. Using such evidence to successfully pursue a claim of medical malpractice may still be difficult, yet not impossible of one has an experienced attorney on his or her side.

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When STDs are mistaken for UTIs

Those in Providence County who may have a sexually transmitted disease may certainly want to know that. Unfortunately, as some of our clients here at DeLuca and Associates have had the misfortune to find out, the potential of misdiagnosing an STD may be high. Many of the symptoms indicating the presence of an STD may be similar to other ailments. In men, these are often easier to differentiate. Yet if you are a woman, the question of whether or not you may have an STD may be harder to answer.

STDs often mimic the same manifestations of another disease common in women: urinary tract infections. The telltale symptoms of a UTI are typically frequent and painful urination. However, these are also common with the following STDs:

  • Trichomoniasis
  • Gonorrhea
  • Chlamydia
  •  Genital herpes

Recent studies seem to indicate that your chances of having an STD mistaken for a UTI depend upon the diagnostic treatment you receive and the location where you are seen. Data shared by the Journal of Clinical Microbiology showed that of over 260 women seen in a hospital emergency room with the aforementioned systems, 64 percent who were later confirmed to have an STD were initially diagnosed with a UTI. The common diagnostic test to confirm the presence of an STD is a urine culture. Yet the ASM study results show that 57 percent of those diagnosed with an UTI did not receive this test.

ER doctors may feel as though they do not have the same amount of time to dedicate to you compared to your primary care physician. This may explain why they might assign a UTI diagnosis without confirmatory tests. Still, your status should be their primary, despite any perceived time constraints.

You can learn more about why misdiagnoses happen by exploring our site.

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The potential for misdiagnosis of cervical spinal stenosis

Like most in Providence County, you likely accept the fact that certain aspects of your health may begin to deteriorate as you age. Yet that does not mean that you should be forced to live with daily pain and discomfort. Yet we at DeLuca and Associates Ltd understand that the trouble with providers dismissing your pain as being age-related without investigating its cause lies in the potential for the underlying condition to worsen, taking an even greater toll on your quality of life.

One of the more common age-related issues that you may begin to experience (particularly after the age of 50) is cervical spinal stenosis. This is caused by a narrowing of the spinal canal at or near the neck. Eventually, the canal compresses to the point of actually pinching your spinal cord. As your reach this point, you may begin to experience initial symptoms, which according to the website Spine-Health.com may include:

  • A heavy feeling in the outer extremities
  •  Intermittent pains in the arms and legs
  • Impairment of your fine motor skills
  • Difficulty enduring physical activities

If left untreated, cervical spinal stenosis can progress on to more serious symptoms such as loss of bladder and bowel control and/or permanent paralysis.

The treatment for this condition is to undergo surgery to decompress the affected area of the spinal canal. However, some doctors may be reluctant to diagnose this condition and to recommend this course of treatment, choosing instead to write your symptoms off as being normal for your age. If, however, you believe the problem to be more pervasive, you may need to assert your authority over the control of your care.

You can find more information on your potential to be misdiagnosed by a doctor by continuing to explore our site.

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The potential for the misdiagnosis of a TIA

Throughout our many years of experience in helping clients here at DeLuca and Associates, we’ve worked with a number of people who’ve suffered both directly and indirectly from the consequences of an inaccurate diagnosis. Strokes are among those medical events whose delay in treatment can have disastrous consequences. Yet often, people will exhibit risk factors for a stroke such as a transient ischemic attack, which, if treated properly and promptly, can greatly reduce one’s chances of actually having a stroke. In this post, we’ll examine the signs and symptoms of a TIA, as well as the potential for its misdiagnosis.

A TIA is often referred to as a “mini-stroke” in that a person suffers from a blockage of blood to the brains just as he or she would with an actual ischemic stroke. The symptoms of this condition may include the sudden onset of:

  • Localized numbness
  • Trouble seeing or speaking
  • Confusion
  • Loss of coordination
  • Severe headaches

Yet unlike with a stroke, these symptoms typically last only about five minutes. Many make the mistake of thinking that once the symptoms subside, they’re out of danger. Yet studies have shown that up to 15 percent of those who suffer a TIA also suffer a major stroke within three months, and more than a third within one year.

The results of a 2010 study shared by the Annals of Emergency Medicine failure to diagnose the same problem by the emergency room doctors who initially treated them. That could potentially spell trouble for those presenting to emergency departments with TIA symptoms that aren’t referred to a neurologist.

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Woman sues the doctors who misdiagnosed her encephalitis

Despite all of the advances made in the medical industry in recent years, medicine can still be classified as an evolving science. Doctors and other healthcare providers in Providence and across the rest of the country see countless patients day after day, most of whom are suffering from fairly common ailments. It’s through the experience in spotting and treating these ailments combined with their education that helps healthcare providers to hone their diagnostic skills. Yet unfortunately, not every doctor can be right in his or her diagnosis all of time. When a misdiagnosis does occur, patients may suffer from delayed treatment while their doctors open themselves up to accusations of negligence.

Such is the case surrounding a Louisiana woman. In a lawsuit filed against multiple providers, she claims to have come to them suffering from encephalitis caused by the herpes simplex virus. Such a complication of herpes is considered to be extremely rare. The woman believes that the doctors named in the lawsuit failed to immediately recognize the condition. Because if the failure to diagnose the condition initially, her treatment was delayed, causing her symptoms to worsen. When she finally was treated, she also claims that treatment wasn’t delivered properly.

While diagnosing rare ailments may present a challenge to doctors, the expectation is still that their knowledge and understanding will ultimately help them to correctly identify a patient’s condition. When that standard of care is not met, patients may have good cause to pursue action against their providers. Anyone considering such action may wish to speak with an attorney with experience in handling medical malpractice cases.

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Lawsuit claims hospital lab errors misdiagnosed patients with HIV

When people in Providence think about the word “misdiagnosis,” they often associate it with those who’ve suffered from conditions or illnesses that medical personnel failed to recognize. Yet what about those who’ve been wrongly diagnosed with a serious condition that they don’t actually have? This may surprise some, but often these misdiagnosed patients suffer even more due to the emotional stress that they’re forced to endure as they contemplate dealing with the illness. Some may even go so far as to seek treatment for the condition, not realizing that they’re endangering themselves by undergoing treatment procedures that they don’t need.

A recent lawsuit filed by a New York lab technician against the very hospital that she works for alleges that during her time on staff, the inexperience and lack of knowledge by some of the staff led to many patients being misdiagnosed with HIV. It’s her belief that after reporting these concerns to her superiors, she became a target for ridicule and retaliation through negative performance reviews and unwarranted disciplinary action to being deliberately passed over for promotion. The city’s Health and Hospital Corporation disputes the woman’s claims despite the fact that two separate outside audits, including one conducted by their own Inspector General, found them to have merit.

It’s often this code of silence amongst healthcare providers regarding a wrong diagnosis and other medical errors that perpetuates these issues from being internal matters amongst hospital staff to serious safety concerns that put patients at risk. Anyone who feels as though they have suffered because if such a medical mistake may wish to consult with a personal injury attorney to see what their options are in seeking compensation from the provider.

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