Pittsburgh Failure to Diagnose Lawyer
Medical malpractice encompasses several types of claims against negligent doctors, including failure to diagnose. Many lawsuits happen due to a doctor’s failure to diagnose a medical condition or properly diagnose an issue in a timely manner. When doctors fail to diagnose a patient’s condition, the patient is susceptible to serious harm. Without a proper and accurate diagnosis, the patient cannot receive treatment. In some cases, this can jeopardize his or her life. If you ever find you or a loved one have been victims of this, contact a failure to diagnose attorney immediately.
Reasons for Failed Diagnoses
Doctors are responsible for their patients’ care and take an oath to do no harm to those in their care. They must use their training, experience and skill to accurately assess a patient’s condition and do so in a timely fashion. Several factors can contribute to a failure to diagnose. It’s vital to understand failure to diagnose laws and know your rights if a negligent doctor caused an injury.
A doctor may have inadequate training or experience to assess your condition accurately. He or she also may rush their assessment and fail to recognize the actual issue. In other cases, a lab technician or other health care employee may botch a test or read the results incorrectly, leading to a failed diagnosis. Your lawyer will help you determine who the defendants are in your case, and what type of compensation you can claim.
Pursuing Your Pittsburgh Failure to Diagnose Lawsuit
Doctors are the primary decision maker when it comes to treating patients, so a failed diagnosis can have serious repercussions. If a failed diagnosis injures you, then you can file a lawsuit to claim damages, including:
- Compounded medical bills. If you went to a doctor to seek treatment, you likely would have had a bill for your issues. However, a failed diagnosis could cause you to need additional surgeries or procedures, extra medications, medical appliances or hospital visits.
- Pain and suffering. A failed diagnosis leads to improper treatment, which can have seriously painful effects on victims. Your attorney will most likely consult with expert witnesses to show how much pain and psychological trauma you endured due to your doctor’s failure to diagnose your condition.
- Lost wages. If your failed diagnosis leads to an extended hospital stay, you can claim lost wages from time spent away from work. If a permanent disability prevents you from returning to work at all, you can sue the negligent doctor for the future income you would have received had you been able to return to work.
If you reside in the Pittsburgh area and have recently suffered injury or other damage due to a failure to diagnose, it’s vital to connect with legal representation if you think a lawsuit is appropriate. In Pennsylvania, injured individuals have two years from the date of an injury or the date they discover injuries to file personal injury claims. Proving the defendant’s negligence will be essential for securing compensation:
- You must establish that a patient-doctor relationship existed between you and the doctor (the defendant).
- You must then show that the defendant had a duty to act with reasonable care. In failure to diagnose cases, this points to a doctor’s obligation to assess a patient’s condition accurately and swiftly.
- Then, you must show how the defendant violated this duty in some way.
- Finally, you can only sue if you suffered harm, so you must show the court that the defendant’s breach of duty directly led to injury or other damages.
Contact Ronald J. Bua & Associates for a free, no-obligation consultation about your failed diagnosis. Our failure to diagnose attorneys can review your case and let you know what kind of compensation you can expect from a successful case. We keep our caseload small, so we can give every client the full range of our experience, knowledge and resources, no matter how complex a case.