Delayed diagnoses and diagnostic errors that result in delayed medical treatments can be extremely costly in multiple ways. Although many patients do receive accurate diagnoses from physicians and specialists that allow them to seek treatment as quickly as possible for illnesses and conditions, many other patients suffer serious harm as a result of diagnostic errors.
Both adult and child patients alike can be affected by diagnostic errors resulting in delayed diagnoses, according to a recent article in Hospital Pediatrics, and patients of all ages can suffer devastating harm when a delayed diagnosis occurs. What is the true cost of a delayed diagnosis?
There are many costs of a delayed diagnosis, from economic costs to personal and psychological costs. By filing a medical malpractice lawsuit for a delayed diagnosis, you may be able to seek compensation for the various costs you have incurred and the losses you have experienced. Our experienced Upstate New York delayed diagnosis lawyers can begin working with you today on your case.
Physical Costs of a Delayed Diagnosis or Diagnostic Error
The physical costs of a delayed diagnosis can be devastating, resulting in significantly more physical pain and suffering due to the more invasive treatments or surgeries that may be necessary.
With a delayed cancer diagnosis, for example, less invasive treatment may have been possible if the disease had been accurately diagnosed. However, with a delayed diagnosis, the disease may have spread, requiring more painful procedures and painful recoveries.
Psychological Costs of a Delayed Diagnosis
Beyond the physical costs of pain and suffering associated with a delayed diagnosis, there are also psychological costs. In particular, when a patient learns that an illness or disease has become incurable — when it could have been properly treated had it been diagnosed earlier — that person can experience immense psychological harm.
The physical pain and suffering, and the psychological pain and suffering, that accompany a delayed diagnosis may allow a patient to seek non-economic damages in a medical malpractice lawsuit.
Economic Costs of a Delayed Diagnosis
Beyond the physical and emotional or psychological costs of diagnostic errors and delayed diagnoses, these serious medical mistakes and instances of medical negligence can have substantial economic costs.
When a patient experiences a delayed diagnosis, that patient often will require more extensive and invasive treatments or surgeries in the weeks, months, and years that follow. Those treatment and care measures can be extremely costly, resulting in tens of thousands of dollars per patient, and often significantly more.
In addition, when a patient experiences a delayed diagnosis after receiving a different, prior diagnosis, the economic costs associated with that treatment based on the prior and incorrect diagnosis add to the total financial costs associated with delayed diagnoses in the United States.
What are the economic or financial costs of delayed diagnoses in the U.S.? According to a report published by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, approximately 30 percent of annual health care costs in the country go toward treatment for illnesses, diseases, or conditions that are connected to delayed diagnoses or diagnostic mistakes. When it comes to numbers, the total spent on healthcare-related to delayed diagnoses is approximately $750 billion.
Seeking Compensation for Injuries Caused by a Delayed Diagnosis
Can you seek compensation for all of the costs associated with a delayed diagnosis? Patients in New York can seek compensation for the economic losses associated with a delayed diagnosis, as well as the extensive physical and psychological harm they have suffered.
New York medical malpractice law, unlike the laws of many other states, does not cap non-economic damages at a particular amount. Accordingly, an injured patient can obtain the full amount of damages awarded by a jury in a medical malpractice claim.
Damages in a delayed diagnosis case typically include both economic and non-economic damages, which are both forms of compensatory damages designed to compensate a patient for his or her losses. The physical, psychological, and financial losses associated with a delayed diagnosis can be compensated through a compensatory damages award in an Upstate New York medical malpractice case.
Contact Our Upstate New York Medical Malpractice Attorneys
If you suffered physical, psychological, or economic harm because of a delayed diagnosis or a diagnostic error, you may be able to file a claim to seek financial compensation. Do not hesitate to get in touch with our firm to learn more about the services we provide to injured patients and their families throughout Upstate New York.
One of our dedicated Syracuse delayed diagnosis lawyers can evaluate your case for you today and speak with you about options for moving forward with a claim. Contact Powers & Santola, LLP for more information.
