Delayed Diagnosis Lawsuit

It is important to diagnose medical conditions and administer the correct treatment as early as possible, especially when patients are suffering from cancer or other diseases. Delaying a diagnosis leads to a delay in crucial treatment of a disease, cancer or other medical condition. Treatable problems can escalate and become much more serious if not addressed early, particularly with cancer, which, if caught early, can sometimes be prevented from spreading. Many of these errors stem from doctors being hesitant to order enough or the right tests and lab work. In addition, many patients unfortunately suffer from both a mis- and delayed diagnosis—what begins as a misdiagnosis turns into a delayed diagnosis of the actual, correct condition.

Some of the most common incidents of delayed diagnoses occur when a medical provider misreads tests or x–rays, loses test results, or fails to perform the correct tests. We often see these types of claims associated with medical conditions such as:

• Aortic dissection
• Pulmonary embolism
• Breast cancer
• Colorectal cancer
• Lung cancer
• Testicular cancer
• Prostate cancer
• Cervical cancer

Unfortunately, these errors are not just limited to doctors; in some offices, nurse practitioners do a significant amount of one-on-one work with each patient either before they see the doctor, or without seeing a doctor at all. Nurse practitioners are not trained in the same way as doctors, and they too can make mistakes in diagnosing the problem. Several types of medical professionals can be involved in a delayed diagnosis that has consequences for the patient.