Philadelphia Misdiagnosis Lawyer

When we get sick, we put our trust in medical professionals to determine what is wrong with us. Our health and well-being are put in the hands of educated doctors who we expect to thoroughly assess symptoms, family medical history, and other factors and diagnose our problems accurately and as quickly as possible. Our Philadelphia misdiagnosis lawyers know that a delay in diagnosis or misdiagnosis of certain diseases or conditions can lead to permanent medical problems or a preventable death. If you were misdiagnosed by a healthcare professional, you may be entitled to financial compensation, and it is wise to contact a skilled medical malpractice attorney for help with a claim.

Common Types of Misdiagnosis Issues

There are different scenarios in which a misdiagnosis can occur, and there are also different types of illness misdiagnosis to consider. Sometimes, our Philadelphia legal team has seen that the medical malpractice goes deeper than the doctor simply misdiagnosing an illness or assuming that one illness is actually another.

Common types of misdiagnosis hospitals include:

• The incorrect disease is diagnosed
• The doctor fails to diagnose within a reasonable amount of time or has unnecessary delays
• Underlying cause of a correctly diagnosed disease is not found
• The side effects of a drug are mistaken for symptoms of a disease

Most Commonly Misdiagnosed Illnesses

Unfortunately, our Philadelphia attorneys understand that many diseases can mimic other medical conditions’ symptoms, which can often lead to misdiagnosis. There are also many conditions that are better off diagnosed by someone who specializes in certain medical areas. Sometimes, misdiagnosis occurs because doctors make assumptions based on how unlikely a condition is to be occurring for a certain type of patient. Although there are many diseases out there that can mimic each other, there are definitely some illnesses that are more likely to be misdiagnosed than others.

Five of the most commonly misdiagnosed diseases and conditions are:

• Cancer: This illness can often present symptoms very common to a wide variety of other conditions. Certain types of cancer are misdiagnosed up to 50% of the time, according to the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
• Heart attack: This condition is often mistaken for anxiety attacks or indigestion. Due to the deadly consequences of a heart attack, this is a particularly important condition to get a second opinion on when a patient has doubts about an initial diagnosis.
• Depression: There is a reason that psychiatry is a specialization and separate from normal medical practice. Most regular healthcare professionals aren’t experienced enough to diagnose depression, and they often mistake it for simply a mood or something someone will “get over.”
• Stroke: Strokes are particularly easy to miss due to their commonality. They are also uncommon in younger people, which results in premature discharge of a patient under the assumption that they are experiencing symptoms of vertigo, intoxication, or migraines.
• Fibromyalgia: This condition mimics symptoms of more commonly seen conditions such as lupus, chronic fatigue syndrome, or arthritis. The symptoms of fibromyalgia include muscle fatigue or aching, joint pain, stiffness, etc.

What Must Be Proven in a Solid Medical Malpractice Misdiagnosis Case

Medical conditions are not always so easily detectable or diagnosable. Doctors are supposed to follow a basic standard of care that is expected of all health care professionals. Sometimes, diseases easily mimic others, or situations happen to the patient or to the hospital that are beyond a doctor’s control.

To build a solid case for your Philadelphia misdiagnosis claim, your attorneys will need to be able to prove the following:

• The patient actually had to be seeing the doctor being considered for liability for the medical issue.
• There was actual negligence on the part of the physician in causing injury to the patient.
• The doctor was negligent. A doctor must follow a certain systematic guideline that involves coming up with a list of possible diagnoses when diagnosing a health issue. One must consider in what way the doctor was negligent for a medical malpractice case: The right diagnosis was made but not in a professional, appropriate, and timely manner.
• A wrong diagnosis was made because the right diagnosis was not in the list of possible diagnoses that MOST healthcare professionals would have come up with.
• A wrong diagnosis was made because the doctor chose the wrong diagnostic tests that would have led to the discovery of the correct medical diagnosis (regardless of whether the diagnosis was on the consideration list).
• Faulty diagnostic testing tools caused faulty test results.
• Diagnostic test results were inaccurate due to human error.

Contact a Philadelphia Attorney for Support With Your  Misdiagnosis Claim

Hospital patients trust their doctors to be experts and find out why they are hurting, feeling sick, or suffering in some mental or physical manner. When a healthcare professional is careless, lazy, incompetent, or unprofessional, this can lead to the misdiagnosis of an illness, which can have serious consequences. For instance, if a patient learns about their cancer at an early stage, their chances of recovery and survival go up substantially. If you are the victim of a misdiagnosis and have been seriously harmed by the doctor’s mistake, you may have rights to compensation for medical costs, physical pain and suffering, and prolonged emotional struggles. Call our experienced Philadelphia misdiagnosis lawyers to get legal support for your case.