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Minneapolis Malpractice Attorney: Failure to Diagnose

When does a doctor’s failure to diagnose a condition constitute medical malpractice? In many situations, the answers are clear. It is a physician’s responsibility to consider every possible cause for a patient’s symptoms, to perform certain diagnostic tests, to refer a difficult case to a specialist.

If a doctor fails to perform those professional responsibilities, it is medical negligence. A patient who suffers as the result of malpractice or the family of a patient who dies because of a negligent failure to diagnose or misdiagnosis is entitled to compensation. Some conditions, however, simply do not present identifiable symptoms until it is too late to treat the patient effectively. In such a case, a doctor’s misdiagnosis or failure to diagnose the condition when the condition was in the early stages was tragic, but not a case of medical negligence.

If a member of your family suffered a serious injury or died after a misdiagnosis or failure to diagnose an otherwise treatable condition such as cancer, heart disease, stroke or an infection, you deserve to know whether the doctor was negligent. Please feel free to contact my firm and arrange a Free Comprehensive Consultation. I will listen to your story, examine the patient’s medical records, and may call on medical experts or investigators to help identify errors and omissions in treatment. After evaluating the case, I will give you the best information I can regarding a malpractice claim.

Patrick L. Cotter, Medical Malpractice Attorney
Minneapolis, St. Paul & Greater Minnesota
Call 651.686.5347 for a Free Comprehensive Consultation

Failure to diagnose and misdiagnosis of treatable conditions

Standard screening tests can detect many types of cancer in the early stages, while the cancers will respond to treatment. The following are examples of cancer-related negligence:

• Failure to order or read results of a mammogram to identify breast cancer
• Failure to perform a digital exam, urinalysis or PSA test to diagnose prostate cancer
• Failure to order a routine colonoscopy
• Failure to perform a visual screening for skin cancer
• Failure of a dentist to screen for cancer of the throat or mouth

Other conditions that can be identified through the use of standard screening tests or tests ordered when patients report symptoms, include:

• Heart conditions and stroke risks that can be diagnosed through the use of stress tests, electrocardiograms (EKGs), blood tests to identify elevated cholesterol and regular blood pressure measurements
• Appendicitis, pancreatitis and other treatable inflammations, often misdiagnosed by emergency room and clinic doctors as viral infections
• Pregnancy-related diabetes, hypertension or preeclampsia
• The need for a cesarean section to prevent a birth injury

Every case of medical negligence is complex and unique. If you wonder whether the condition that injured you or your loved one should have been diagnosed while it was treatable, please feel free to contact my law office arrange a Free Comprehensive Consultation. I will listen to your story, evaluate your case and explain your legal situation.

Medical malpractice lawyer Patrick L. Cotter, handling claims for failure to diagnose treatable conditions