San Francisco Failure to Diagnose Attorneys

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Your doctor is responsible for recognizing potential medical problems early on. This means that he or she must perform tests that another medical professional with the same knowledge would perform. After all, a physician cannot properly treat a medical condition without first diagnosing the problem.

Several factors go into making the correct diagnosis. And, making a proper and timely diagnosis is the first step in ensuring a patient receives the necessary treatment to improve. The failure to obtain that proper diagnosis may result in significant patient harm by allowing a disease to worsen, closing the optimal treatment window and reducing the chance for a full recovery.

When the physician fails to act in accordance with the standards set in his or her field, he or she may be found liable for medical malpractice. Our San Francisco failure to diagnose lawyers at Bostwick & Peterson have a wide range of experience litigating failure to diagnose and delayed diagnosis cases.

If you or someone you love has suffered harm as a result of your doctor's failure to diagnose a serious medical condition, call Bostwick & Peterson at (888) 831-8448 or contact us online today for a free consultation.

What is Failure to Diagnose?

Failure to diagnose occurs when a medical professional does not recognize or correctly identify a patient’s condition. This can happen in various ways, such as failing to order appropriate diagnostic tests, misinterpreting test results, overlooking symptoms, or dismissing patient concerns. In some cases, a healthcare provider may diagnose the wrong condition, known as misdiagnosis, or entirely miss the diagnosis, referred to as missed diagnosis.

For example, a doctor might misinterpret chest pain as indigestion when it is actually a heart attack, or dismiss a persistent cough without realizing it is a symptom of lung cancer. In both cases, the delay or absence of proper diagnosis can have severe repercussions on the patient’s health.

The Effects of Delayed or Missed Diagnoses

The failure to diagnose a medical condition can have severe and lasting effects on a patient’s life. These consequences often depend on the nature of the condition and the timing of the diagnosis.

For instance:

• Worsened Outcomes: A delayed diagnosis may allow the condition to progress, making treatment more challenging or less effective.
• Unnecessary Suffering: Patients may experience prolonged pain, discomfort, or disability.
• Increased Mortality Risk: Some diseases, such as cancer or cardiovascular conditions, require early intervention to improve survival rates.
• Psychological Impact: Patients and their families may endure significant emotional stress due to uncertainty or loss.

Factors That Contribute to Delayed Diagnoses

Several factors can contribute to a failure to diagnose, including:

• Incomplete Patient Evaluation: A healthcare provider may fail to take a thorough medical history or perform a comprehensive physical examination.
• Overlooking Symptoms: Symptoms may be dismissed as minor or attributed to a less serious condition.
• Errors in Test Interpretation: Lab tests, imaging studies, or other diagnostic tools might be misread or not fully understood.
• Lack of Follow-Up: A provider may not follow up on test results or refer the patient to a specialist when needed.
• Systemic Issues: Problems like inadequate staffing, high patient volumes, or faulty communication between medical teams can also lead to diagnostic failures.

Who is Liable?

Liability for failure to diagnose depends on the specific circumstances, including who was involved in the diagnosis, what their role was, and whether their actions deviated from the expected standard of care. Below are the parties that may be held liable for failure to diagnose:

• Physicians (Doctors): Doctors, particularly general practitioners and specialists, are most commonly held liable for failure to diagnose. They have the primary responsibility for diagnosing and treating patients, and any failure to accurately identify a condition or order necessary tests may lead to liability.
• Nurses and Nurse Practitioners: Nurses and nurse practitioners can also be held responsible if they fail to report critical symptoms, misunderstand patient conditions, or neglect to follow up on diagnostic results. While they don’t make diagnoses, their role in patient care and communication is essential for accurate diagnosis.
• Laboratory Technicians: Laboratory technicians who mishandle samples, misinterpret test results, or fail to report abnormal findings may be held liable for failure to diagnose. Their role in processing diagnostic tests is crucial to accurate diagnosis, and errors at this stage can have serious consequences.
• Hospitals or Healthcare Facilities: Hospitals or healthcare institutions can be held vicariously liable if systemic issues, such as inadequate staffing or poor coordination of care, contribute to a missed diagnosis. When diagnostic failures are due to institutional negligence, the hospital may be held accountable.
• Physician Assistants (PAs): Physician assistants, working under a physician’s supervision, can be held liable if they fail to diagnose a condition or miss important symptoms. Their responsibilities include diagnosing and treating patients, and errors in this process can lead to legal liability.
• Other Healthcare Providers (e.g., Pharmacists, Therapists): Other healthcare providers, such as pharmacists or physical therapists, may also be liable if their actions contribute to a failure to diagnose. For example, pharmacists who misread prescriptions or fail to notice warning signs of undiagnosed conditions could be held accountable.
• Medical Malpractice Insurance Companies: While insurance companies are not directly liable for medical negligence, they may be involved in defending or settling malpractice claims. They provide coverage for healthcare providers in cases of failure to diagnose, but they are not responsible for the actual medical error.
• Third-Party Entities (e.g., Diagnostic Centers): Third-party diagnostic centers, including imaging and testing facilities, can be held liable if they provide inaccurate results or fail to notify patients of critical findings. They play a vital role in the diagnostic process, and errors on their part can lead to missed or incorrect diagnoses.

Making a Case for a Delayed or Missed Diagnosis

While each situation is different, some general guidelines exist concerning what constitutes medical negligence. First, it’s important that you actually have a doctor/patient relationship. For a viable claim of medical malpractice to exist, your relationship with the doctor must be more than, for example, casually asking an acquaintance who is a doctor - "What do you think about this?"

Additionally, the failure to diagnose a condition must be unreasonable, and fall below the standard of conduct expected from a typical doctor in that type of practice. This is generally established via medical experts.

Finally, it must be shown that the failure to diagnose and treat a condition led to the patient's harm. Diagnosing and prescribing treatment for a dangerous medical condition in a timely fashion is important to reduce or eliminate its effects on a patient’s health. However, in some instances, the delay may not have changed the outcome, such as a short delay in diagnosing advanced stage cancer.

To determine whether you have a claim for medical malpractice, it is important to speak with a San Francisco failure to diagnose attorney who can begin an investigation into all of the circumstances surrounding your claim.

Powerful Advocacy for Victims of Malpractice

If you or a loved one has suffered due to a physician's failure to diagnose, you may have grounds to pursue financial compensation through a medical malpractice lawsuit. If you believe you were improperly diagnosed, do not hesitate to call our firm and discuss your legal options with a knowledgeable attorney.

We have served our community for over 60 years and hold national records for many of our verdicts. We are committed to each case we receive and represent our clients with tenacity throughout the litigation process. The negligent medical professionals responsible for your harm must be held accountable.