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Since 1976, Steve Levin has been dedicated to helping people injured by others’ negligence. He is one of the first attorneys in the U.S. to prosecute nursing homes for abuse and negligence. He’s also helped write new legislation that governs the operation of nursing homes, including the Illinois Nursing Home Care Act. Moreover, Levin & Perconti has obtained the top three jury verdicts in nursing home negligence cases in Illinois.
Read Bio
Since 1976, Steve Levin has been dedicated to helping people injured by others’ negligence. He is one of the first attorneys in the U.S. to prosecute nursing homes for abuse and negligence. He’s also helped write new legislation that governs the operation of nursing homes, including the Illinois Nursing Home Care Act. Moreover, Levin & Perconti has obtained the top three jury verdicts in nursing home negligence cases in Illinois.
Learning you have a serious medical condition can inspire many complicated feelings. You might start to wonder whether your doctors should have caught it sooner, and whether things would be different if they did.
Whether you were harmed by a delayed diagnosis or a failure to diagnose, you may be eligible to hold your healthcare providers accountable for negligence through a medical malpractice claim. Knowing the difference between these two types of misdiagnosis can help you understand what you’ve experienced and figure out what to do next.
What Is a Failure to Diagnose?
A failure to diagnose, or a missed diagnosis, is when a healthcare provider does not identify a serious medical condition when they reasonably should have. The condition may be diagnosed by another provider later, at which time it may have progressed and caused more harm than it would have if caught earlier.
Examples of failure to diagnose include:
- A doctor misses clear signs of a tumor on an imaging scan, failing to discover the patient’s cancer while it was still treatable.
- A doctor brushes off a patient’s concerns and sends them home, failing to recognize signs of a stroke and delaying treatment that could limit brain damage.
What Is a Delayed Diagnosis?
A delayed diagnosis is when a healthcare provider identifies a serious medical condition later than they should have. The delay may lead to worse outcomes, as the patient won’t get the right treatment immediately.
Examples of delayed diagnosis include:
- A doctor fails to identify signs of infection in a patient, causing them to suffer from preventable septic shock.
- A patient presents with symptoms of a heart attack, but a doctor orders tests instead of beginning emergency treatment, leading to further damage.
What Are the Important Differences Between Failure to Diagnose and Delayed Diagnosis?
Failure to diagnose and delayed diagnosis can involve different fact patterns, but the terms often overlap and both follow the same general legal requirements for medical malpractice claims.
The differences concern whether a condition was missed or identified later than it reasonably should have been. A failure to diagnose can also lead to a delayed diagnosis, regardless of whether the same healthcare provider eventually reaches the correct diagnosis.
| Failure to diagnose | Delayed diagnosis | |
|---|---|---|
| What happened? | The provider did not identify a serious medical condition when they reasonably should have | A serious condition was diagnosed later than it reasonably should have been |
| How can it impact the patient? | Lack of appropriate treatment, potentially allowing the condition to progress or causing additional harm | Additional harm or worsened prognosis because of delayed treatment |
| How can it impact the timeline of a malpractice case? | Discovery timing varies; Illinois’ general filing deadlines apply, subject to exceptions | Discovery timing varies; Illinois’ general filing deadlines apply, subject to exceptions |
If you’ve been harmed as a result of a missed or delayed diagnosis, you don’t need to know which label correctly describes your case before taking action. An experienced medical malpractice lawyer can review the circumstances of your case and evaluate your legal options.
When Can a Failure to Diagnose or a Delayed Diagnosis Be Medical Malpractice?
The act of missing or delaying a diagnosis isn’t necessarily medical malpractice on its own. To prove malpractice, you have to show that a reasonable provider would have acted differently and prevented the error.
Medical malpractice claims, including failure to diagnose and missed diagnosis, require the victim to establish four legal elements:
- Duty of care: As a medical professional, the provider had a legal obligation to properly care for their patients.
- Breach of duty: The provider failed to uphold the accepted “standard of care” expected of reasonable medical professionals.
- Causation: The provider’s breach of duty directly caused the patient’s injuries.
- Damages: The patient is entitled to compensation for the harm caused by their injuries.
In these cases, a doctor would violate the standard of care if they missed or unreasonably delayed a diagnosis that another competent doctor in the same position would have made or uncovered. Malpractice attorneys rely on evidence such as medical records, test results, and testimony from relevant healthcare experts to establish the standard of care and how it was breached.
Who Can Be Held Liable for a Missed or Delayed Diagnosis?
Any doctor, specialist, or other healthcare professional involved in diagnosing your condition can be responsible for medical malpractice if their negligence contributed to a failure to diagnose or a delayed diagnosis that harmed you. In some circumstances, a hospital or other healthcare facility can also be held liable for negligent care provided by employees acting within the scope of their employment or by apparent agents. A facility may also be liable if its own inadequate policies and procedures contributed to the error and resulting harm.
What Should You Do if You Suspect a Missed or Delayed Diagnosis?
If you believe you were harmed by a failure to diagnose or a delayed diagnosis, it’s important to start building a case as soon as possible. The statute of limitations for medical malpractice claims in Illinois is generally two years after you discover, or reasonably should discover, your injury and that it was wrongfully caused. A separate statute of repose generally bars claims filed more than four years after the negligent act or omission. Certain exceptions may apply, so an attorney can help determine the deadlines for your case.
Your next steps should include:
- Take notes: Write down any observations you’ve made that may be relevant to your case. Create a timeline of important events, including appointment dates and the dates when certain symptoms started or worsened.
- Get a second opinion: Have an independent medical professional examine your condition and review your medical records to confirm your diagnosis and get their opinion on when it should have been caught.
- Gather evidence: Save any relevant medical records from any providers involved, including test results, doctor’s notes, written communications, and more.
- Talk to an attorney: A trusted medical malpractice lawyer will review your circumstances, evaluate whether your claim is worth investigating further, and help you determine what to do next.
Let Levin & Perconti Help With Your Missed or Delayed Diagnosis Claim
With over 400 years of combined experience, the trusted legal team at Levin & Perconti has the skill, resources, and know-how to go up against powerful healthcare systems and hold negligent providers accountable. If you’ve been hurt by a failure to diagnose or delayed diagnosis, contact us online or call (312) 332-2872 today to schedule a free, no-obligation consultation.
