Staten Island Failure to Diagnose Lawyer

Misdiagnosis is a Serious Concern

Improvements in the detection and treatment of disease have brought tremendous benefits to patients everywhere. Conditions which not long ago were declared untreatable can now be cured using modern techniques. Even some diseases once considered unavoidably fatal can now be treated successfully if they are diagnosed in an early stage.

That’s where proper diagnosis plays a major role: despite medical advances, for many conditions it’s still absolutely critical that a condition be identified early otherwise no amount of treatment can help. For other conditions, a patient will be forced to undergo more expensive and riskier treatments with a greater chance of experiencing serious complications if an illness is not caught early.

Failure to diagnose or misdiagnosis is the most common type of medical malpractice claim, accounting for up to 40% of all cases. Although no two cases are the same, in a typical case a patient’s illness is either missed entirely or is misdiagnosed as another condition (often one that is less serious than the true illness). Sometimes a failure to diagnose will not lead to serious consequences, but when a health care provider misses an important condition life-threatening complications can ensue. If a failure to diagnose has caused hardship for you or a family member, it’s important to address this negligence by locating a Staten Island misdiagnosis lawyer with experience. You’ve already suffered because action wasn’t taken soon enough; don’t delay any longer.

Even the best physician can fail to diagnose a serious condition when he does not devote an appropriate amount of attention to the patient during an exam. Among the conditions most commonly missed by providers are allergic reactions, diabetic complications, cancer, stroke, heart attack, meningitis, hypertension, periodontal disease, appendicitis, and Lyme disease. Many of these conditions can lead to extremely serious injury or death even when correctly diagnosed; failing to diagnose them can drastically increase the chances of crippling complications or a fatal outcome. When physicians fail to diagnose a condition which is not life-threatening, the oversight can still lead to preventable pain and suffering, and other injuries which should have been avoided.

A great many negligent actions can leave a health care provider liable for failure to diagnose, such as:

–   Failure to recognize potential indications of a problem

–   Failure to perform regular screenings, especially in high risk patients

–   Inadequate or improper physical examination

–   Failure to attend to and act appropriately on patient complaints

–   Failure to order appropriate tests when indicated

–   Misinterpretation of test results

–   Failure to properly read x-rays and mammograms

–   Misdiagnosis of a tumor as benign

–   Delayed referral of a patient to a specialist

–   Failure to provide adequate follow up care, including ordering follow-up tests

Taking on Staten Island Failure to Diagnose Cases

If it’s happened to your family, you know that failure to diagnose is a serious problem. When the negligence of a health care provider has saddled you with troubles that should have been avoided, you need compassionate and experienced partners in your corner. Kuharski, Levitz, & Giovinazzo want to know what we can do for you.

See Also: Legal Assistance for ER Negligence Claims, Click here.