You reasonably expect your healthcare provider to promptly and correctly diagnose you with any medical condition you may have, especially a life-threatening one such as cancer. Unfortunately, doctors and other medical professionals make diagnostic mistakes at an alarming rate. When the diagnostic error involves a cancer diagnosis, the mistake can be fatal. If you lost a loved one due to a delayed cancer diagnosis or you have suffered catastrophic injuries due to a doctor’s medical mistake, you may have legal grounds to file a medical malpractice lawsuit.
However, not every delayed diagnosis provides legal grounds for a medical malpractice claim. The following factors can affect the viability of a medical malpractice case based on a delayed cancer diagnosis.
Who Missed the Initial Signs of Cancer
A successful medical malpractice case starts by identifying the person or entity responsible for the delayed diagnosis. The party that missed the diagnosis must have a healthcare provider/patient relationship with you. This will show that the medical professional owed you a duty of care.
You form a doctor/patient relationship with someone when you seek medical advice and treatment from them, and they accept you as a patient. Under this general framework, various healthcare professionals could be responsible for a missed diagnosis, including:
- Doctors
- Dentists
- Nurses
- Radiologists
- Testing laboratories
- Physician assistants
- Nursing assistants
- Hospitals
- Medical centers
- Surgical centers
To determine which medical provider was responsible for the missed diagnosis, you will need to find out what caused the diagnostic error.
Why the Delayed Cancer Diagnosis Occurred
Diagnostic errors can occur for various reasons. A doctor may fail to conduct a proper physical examination, order the necessary tests, or misread test results. Laboratories can make mistakes when providing results. A medical technician could perform a biopsy incorrectly.
Your primary care physician could fail to recognize symptoms of cancer. Even oncologists may miss some symptoms when the cancer is a rare type that they don’t have experience with.
Common causes for a failure to diagnose include the following:
- Delayed or missed screenings: Doctors might not order necessary screening tests like colonoscopies or mammograms that could have revealed the cancer sooner.
- Inadequate medical history: Medical personnel may fail to obtain the necessary medical or family history that would provide information about a patient’s risk factors.
- Missed symptoms: Doctors may not recognize symptoms of cancer. This could prevent them from referring the patient to an oncologist or conducting proper tests.
- Confused symptoms: Medical professionals may also confuse symptoms with those of other medical conditions, leading to a misdiagnosis.
- Misinterpretation of test results: Radiologists and pathologists can misread X-rays, scans, or biopsies. This can lead them to provide a false negative to patients.
- Failure to follow up on symptoms: Healthcare providers may dismiss or misinterpret patients’ symptoms. This could cause the cancer to go undiagnosed until it gets much worse.
- Improper tissue sampling or handling: Medical providers may make mistakes when obtaining or processing tissue samples that can lead to inaccurate diagnoses.
- Communication breakdowns: Healthcare professionals may not communicate with each other. Lab results can be lost or not communicated, which can lead to delayed treatment.
- Inadequate training or experience: Doctors and other healthcare professionals may not have sufficient experience to recognize signs of cancer.
- Technology malfunctions: Medical equipment or software could malfunction, contributing to a missed diagnosis.
An experienced medical malpractice attorney can conduct an investigation to determine the causes that contributed to the failed diagnosis.
Whether Another Healthcare Provider Would Have Caught the Cancer Sooner
Most medical malpractice cases must establish that another healthcare provider would not have made the same mistake that led to a missed or delayed diagnosis. All medical providers are expected to provide patients with care that falls within the accepted medical standard of care in the medical community. This is the level of care that another healthcare provider with similar training and specialty area would have provided under similar circumstances.
Under this framework, the doctor must handle the process of diagnosing patients with the same level of care that other doctors in the same situation would have used. Determining what another medical provider would have done under the circumstances is usually based on a medical expert witness’s testimony.
The Damages You Sustained
To recover compensation in a failed diagnosis case, you must show that you sustained damages. If another healthcare provider quickly identified the condition and you received prompt medical treatment, you might not have a claim. Unfortunately, this is not what happens in most failed cancer diagnosis cases.
When a doctor fails to timely diagnose cancer, the consequences are often catastrophic. A false negative usually means that your medical condition goes untreated. You lose the ability to treat your condition early when less invasive medical measures could have been used.
Your condition could progress to an advanced stage. This could translate to reduced survival rates, limited treatment options, and more aggressive treatments. You could undergo considerable suffering due to the worsened medical condition and the medical procedures you must now undergo.
The financial burden of a delayed cancer diagnosis can also be significant. You could be permanently disabled or require extended periods of time off work. You may face considerable pain and suffering that diminishes your quality of life.
When your misdiagnosis causes you to lose the opportunity to treat your condition early, you may have suffered for longer than you would have if the healthcare provider had performed their job correctly. As such, you can pursue compensation for specific and general damages. Specific damages include costs to obtain the correct diagnosis and compensate for damages related to your specific loss, such as:
- Additional medical expenses
- Ongoing medical treatment
- Rehabilitation and therapy
- Lost wages
- Diminished earning capacity due to disabling conditions
General damages pay for the losses that personal injury victims commonly sustain that do not have a direct financial value, such as:
- Physical pain and suffering
- Mental anguish
- Emotional distress
- Disability
- Disfigurement
- Reduced quality of life
How Long Ago the Mistake Occurred
To file a medical malpractice lawsuit, the statute of limitations must not have run out. New York limits most medical malpractice cases to two and a half years. However, there is a notable exception known as Lavern’s Law that applies in cases involving cancer misdiagnosis cases or the misdiagnosis of a malignant tumor.
If the medical malpractice is related to a doctor’s failure to diagnose cancer correctly, the patient has two and a half years from when the cancer was discovered to file a lawsuit. However, the patient must take legal action within seven years of the medical error in any event.
The Strength of Your Evidence
A factor that can affect whether you can file a medical malpractice lawsuit and whether it will likely be successful is the strength of your evidence. As the plaintiff in a personal injury case, you will be responsible for demonstrating each element of the legal claim by proof by a preponderance of the evidence. This means that it is more likely than not that all of the following are true:
- You had a doctor/patient relationship with the defendant.
- The defendant violated the accepted standard of care.
- The defendant’s deviation from the accepted standard of care was the legal and proximate cause of your cancer misdiagnosis.
- You suffered damages as a result of the delayed diagnosis.
Obtaining the evidence that is strong enough to meet this significant burden is one of the reasons it’s crucial to work with an experienced lawyer. A medical malpractice lawyer can help obtain evidence such as:
- Medical records
- Witness statements
- Lab results
- Doctor’s notes
- Surgical videos
- Photos of your injuries and treatments
- Expert witness testimony
- Check stubs
- Medical bills
- Statements from vocational experts about your long-term earning losses
Whether the Case Is Resolved Through an Insurance Settlement
Not every medical malpractice claim becomes a lawsuit. Instead, some are resolved by filing an insurance claim with the negligent doctor’s medical malpractice insurance. An experienced medical malpractice lawyer may try to negotiate a settlement before filing a lawsuit.
Whether You Hire an Experienced Medical Malpractice Lawyer
Medical malpractice cases are highly complex. They involve complicated legal and medical aspects. Injured patients are unlikely to win a medical malpractice lawsuit without the legal assistance of an attorney with experience handling these types of cases.
Powers & Santola, LLP has over 30 years of experience helping medical malpractice and personal injury victims. We have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements for our clients. Our relentless dedication and significant results have earned us recognition repeatedly as Medical Malpractice Lawyer of the Year.
We offer free consultations, so you can learn more about your legal options following a delayed diagnosis of cancer with no risk or obligation. Call us today for your free case review.
Whether You Can Obtain a Certificate of Merit
New York law requires claimants to provide a certificate of merit when they file a medical malpractice lawsuit. This certificate of merit states that a medical expert has evaluated your case and determined that there are grounds for a medical malpractice claim. Powers & Santola, LLP has a network of expert witnesses we can call upon to help support your claim.
FAQs
How Do I Know If I Have a Viable Medical Malpractice Claim?
The best way to learn whether you have legal grounds for a medical malpractice claim is by speaking to an experienced attorney. A lawyer can evaluate your claim, ask questions, and conduct an investigation to determine if medical malpractice occurred.
What Is My Medical Malpractice Case Worth?
Every medical malpractice case is different, and there is no average amount you can expect for your claim. However, many delayed cancer diagnosis cases involve significant damages, as they may involve terminal illnesses or exacerbated conditions that justify significant awards. Some of the factors that can affect the value of your medical malpractice case include:
- The type of cancer you have
- The current stage of the cancer
- The stage of cancer the disease was at when the doctor missed the signs
- The consequences of the delayed diagnosis
- Who was responsible for the missed diagnosis and their medical malpractice insurance
- The reasons why the cancer was diagnosed
- The cost and type of medical treatment you received compared to the costs and types of medical treatment you would have received if the cancer had been diagnosed sooner
An experienced attorney can review your case and explain what it might be worth.
Contact an Experienced Medical Malpractice Lawyer for Help with Your Case
A delayed cancer diagnosis can have devastating effects on you and your family, potentially including a shortened life expectancy or the need to undergo invasive medical procedures. When a diagnostic mistake occurs because of negligence, the careless doctor or healthcare provider should be held accountable for
Powers & Santola, LLP has been representing the rights of the injured for more than three decades. We have extensive experience helping misdiagnosed patients. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation with an experienced medical malpractice attorney.
