A Misdiagnosed Illness: Do You Have a Case?

Allen Ritchie • August 18, 2021

 

 

 

 

When a physician’s misdiagnosis leads to a wrong treatment or no treatment at all, a patient will not get well, and may even die. Still there may not be grounds for a medical malpractice lawsuit.

Generally, you must prove three things to sustain a malpractice suit based on a wrong diagnosis:

  • a doctor-patient relationship existed
  • the doctor did not provide treatment in a timely manner
  • the doctor’s negligence caused injury to the patient

Most medical malpractice cases hinge on the last two – was the doctor negligent, and did the negligence cause harm to the patient?

There are several ways in which a doctor or other medical practitioner can make diagnostic mistakes and which will be considered in filing a lawsuit:

  • Wrong diagnosis: the doctor treats the wrong illness
  • Missed diagnosis: the doctor gives the patient a clean bill of health when in fact there is an illness.
  • Delayed diagnosis: a correct diagnosis is eventually made, but after a significant delay.
  • Failure to recognize complications: the doctor makes the right diagnosis, but fails to identify complications which change or aggravate the illness or condition.
  • Failure to diagnose a related disease: the doctor diagnoses correctly, but fails to diagnose a related disease; and
  • Failure to diagnose an unrelated disease: the doctor fails to diagnose a completely unrelated second disease.

It is also necessary to prove the standard of care within the local medical community.

If you or a loved one has been misdiagnosed, or if you think you have – we can help. You do have legal recourse in these cases, and attorneys at Eiland and Ritchie will talk with you for free. We want to help you get back on your feet.

Also, joins us on NBC 15 LawCall here in Mobile every Sunday night at 10:30, right after the news. We will take your calls live.

Alabama Personal Injury Lawyer

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