Failure to Diagnose

Failure to diagnose malpractice cases involve situations in which a doctor or other medical provider is unable to diagnose a patient’s sickness or condition. Unlike misdiagnosis malpractice cases, a failure to diagnose case arises not when the wrong diagnosis is made, but rather when no diagnosis is made. Similar to other diagnosis malpractice cases, a failure to diagnose malpractice case requires proving that any reasonable physician or medical provider would have been able to properly diagnose a patient’s condition. Similarly, a failure to diagnose claim can be made when it can be shown that although the doctor may not have been able to fully diagnose the patient, the standard of care required the doctor order to perform additional testing to determine what anything is affecting the patient.

For example, if a patient arrives at an emergency room with abnormal vital signs and general complaints of fatigue, it may be very difficult for a doctor to diagnose what the exact problem is. However, any failure to diagnose malpractice case can be made if any reasonable physician would order the patient to undergo testing to further identify what if anything is wrong. If instead of ordering additional testing the medical provider discharges the patient, there may be the basis for a failure to diagnose malpractice claim.

If a medical provider fails to diagnose a patient but then later does so correctly, patient suffered as a result of the delayed diagnosis malpractice law may allow for the claim to be pursued. In any failure to diagnose or delayed diagnosis malpractice case, it is necessary to prove how the patient’s edition was made worse by not receiving necessary medical care.  Sometimes a simple dose of antibiotics can mean the difference between life and death. However, if a diagnosis is never made, the patient may not receive the necessary treatment or medication and suffer lasting effects.