Need to File a Failure to Diagnose Lawsuit for a Medical Condition?

Failure to Diagnose a Medical Condition Lawsuits Overview

When a doctor or healthcare professional fails to identify a serious condition in time, the consequences can be life-altering. 

If you’ve suffered due to a delayed or missed diagnosis, you may have grounds for a medical malpractice claim—and our team of experienced Chicago failure to diagnose lawyers is here to help you pursue the justice and compensation you deserve.

Failing to diagnose a medical condition may lead to a successful medical malpractice lawsuit if a doctor or healthcare provider strays from the accepted standard of care and the patient suffers harm as a result. 

To succeed in a failure-to-diagnose claim, the patient must show that the provider owed a duty of care, breached that duty, and that the breach directly caused injury and measurable damages.

What Is Considered A Failure To Diagnose?

A failure to diagnose occurs and may be grounds for a lawsuit when a healthcare provider does not identify a medical condition in a timely and accurate manner, leading to delayed treatment or harm to the patient.

How Frequently Do Doctors Fail to Diagnose Medical Conditions?

Diagnostic errors, such as a failure to diagnose medical conditions, are alarmingly common in healthcare.

A study published in BMJ Quality & Safety estimated that approximately 5% of U.S. adults experience diagnostic errors in outpatient settings annually, affecting over 12 million individuals. 

Additional research indicates that diagnostic errors account for about 26.6% of malpractice claims over a 20-year period, with 39% of these cases resulting in patient death. 

Our Experience With Failure to Diagnose Medical Condition Lawsuits

We’re a Chicago-based law firm with extensive experience representing clients in cases involving failure to diagnose a medical condition. 

Our Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyers have successfully represented patients in lawsuits resulting from a physician’s or medical professional’s failure to diagnose their medical conditions, collecting damages for medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering. 

Our expertise in this area often involves collaborating with medical experts to uncover negligence and advocate for our clients’ rights. 

We focus on clients in Chicago, Illinois, and the surrounding areas. 

We’ve handled cases that involved settlements of $1,000,000+ for failure to diagnose a medical condition in a timely manner, resulting in unnecessary pain and suffering. 

What types of medical conditions are commonly missed or does a doctor fail to diagnose properly?

Doctors most commonly fail to diagnose serious health conditions like cancer (especially breast, lung, and colorectal), infections (such as sepsis or meningitis), blood clots, aneurysms, pulmonary embolisms, and cardiovascular issues like heart attacks or strokes. 

These conditions often present with symptoms that can be mistaken for less serious ailments, leading to delayed or incorrect diagnoses.

Early detection is critical, and failure to recognize these illnesses in time can result in severe complications or even wrongful death.

What is Involved in a Lawsuit for a Failure to Diagnose a Medical Condition?

There are several key elements involved in a lawsuit for a diagnostic problem or similar claim. 

1. Duty of Care.This legal obligation requires healthcare providers to adhere to a standard of reasonable care while performing any acts that could foreseeably harm patients.
2. Breach of Duty. In a malpractice lawsuit, a breach of duty or negligence occurs when a healthcare provider fails to meet the established standard of care, potentially leading to harm or injury to the patient.
3. Causation. The legal link that connects a healthcare provider’s breach of duty to the patient’s injury, showing that the harm would not have occurred without the provider’s negligence.
4. Damages.These are the measurable losses a patient suffers—such as medical expenses, lost wages, or pain and suffering—as a result of a healthcare provider’s negligence or breach of duty. Damages or compensation are paid out as part of the failure to diagnose lawsuit settlement. 

What Types of Failure to Diagnose Medical Condition Lawsuits are Most Common?

The most common failure to diagnose lawsuits involve conditions like cancer, heart attacks, strokes, infections, and appendicitis, where missed or delayed diagnoses can lead to serious injury or death.

While diagnostic error may be part of other types of malpractice lawsuits, these are the most common types of failure to diagnose lawsuits.

• Misdiagnosis. Misdiagnosis is when a healthcare provider incorrectly identifies a patient’s medical condition or makes the wrong diagnosis, leading to inappropriate or delayed treatment.
• Delayed Diagnosis. Delayed diagnosis occurs when a medical condition is identified later than it should have been, potentially causing harm due to postponed treatment.

Failure to diagnose cases often arise because early detection is critical, and any delay or error can significantly worsen patient outcomes.. 

Personal Injury vs Wrongful Death in Failure to Diagnose Lawsuit Cases

In failure to diagnose lawsuits, personal injury cases involve patients who survive but suffer physical or emotional harm due to delayed or missed diagnoses. 

On the contrary, wrongful death cases occur when the diagnostic failure leads to a patient’s death, allowing family members to seek compensation for their loss.

Both types of cases require proving that the healthcare provider’s negligence caused the injury or death.

What Challenges Are Involved in a Failure to Diagnose Lawsuit?

The primary challenge in a failure to diagnose lawsuit include proving that the healthcare provider breached the standard of care, establishing a direct link between the missed diagnosis and the patient’s harm, and overcoming complex medical evidence.

• Patient Contribution. This issue refers to situations where the patient’s own actions or delays in seeking medical care may partially affect the outcome or complicate a failure to diagnose claim.
• Standard of Care. In a failure to diagnose lawsuit, the plaintiff must prove that the standard of care—the level of skill, knowledge, and care that a reasonably competent healthcare provider is expected to deliver under similar circumstances—was not met.
• Inherent Nature of the Condition. In some cases, the characteristics or complexity of a medical condition may make it difficult to diagnose, even when appropriate care is provided.

Common Questions Asked About Failure To Diagnose Lawsuits

1. What is considered a failure to diagnose a medical condition? 

Failure to diagnose a medical condition occurs when a healthcare provider does not identify or timely recognize an illness or injury, resulting in delayed or improper treatment that harms the patient.

2. Is a failure to diagnose a medical condition considered malpractice?

Yes, failure to diagnose a medical condition can be considered malpractice if it involves negligence that deviates from the accepted standard of care and causes harm to the patient.

3. Can you sue a doctor for failure to diagnose a medical condition?

Yes, you can sue a doctor for failure to diagnose a medical condition if you can prove that their negligence caused you harm.

4. Can you sue a doctor for providing the wrong test results? 

Yes, you can sue a doctor for providing wrong test results if their negligence in interpreting or handling the tests causes you harm.

5. How long do you have to file a lawsuit in Illinois when a doctor fails to diagnose your medical condition?

In Illinois, you generally have 2 years from the date you discovered—or reasonably should have discovered—that a doctor failed to diagnose your medical condition to file a medical malpractice lawsuit. 

However, the statute of repose bars any claim more than four years after the date of the alleged malpractice, regardless of when the injury was discovered. 

For minors, the statute of limitations is extended, allowing claims to be filed up to eight years from the date of the alleged malpractice, but no later than the minor’s 22nd birthday.

6. If I die as a result of a doctor’s failure to diagnose my medical condition, will my claim die with me?

No, if you die due to a doctor’s failure to diagnose, your family or estate can file a wrongful death claim on your behalf.

7. How long is it likely to take before I receive compensation from a lawsuit for a failure to diagnose a medical condition? 

Compensation from a failure to diagnose lawsuit typically takes anywhere from several months to a few years, depending on the case’s complexity, settlement negotiations, and whether it goes to trial.

8. Does Illinois or Chicago have any caps on damages in a failure-to-diagnose lawsuit?

Yes, Illinois applies limits on specific types of damages in medical malpractice cases. Non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering, emotional distress, and loss of consortium, are capped at $500,000 for healthcare providers and $1,000,000 for hospitals, except in cases of catastrophic injuries or death. 

However, there are no limits on economic damages, such as medical expenses and lost wages due to a doctor’s failure to diagnose your medical condition properly. It’s important to consult with a qualified attorney to understand how these limits may apply to your specific case.

9. How much compensation can I ask for in a lawsuit for a doctor’s failure to diagnose my medical condition?

The amount of compensation you can ask for in a diagnosis failure-related case depends on the extent of harm or injury suffered, the costs of medical treatment, lost income, and the impact on your quality of life. There is no predetermined limit on damages in medical malpractice cases, but damages awarded are designed to compensate for both economic losses and non-economic damages like pain and suffering.

Find Out If You Have Grounds For a Failure to Diagnose A Medical Condition Lawsuit in Chicago, Illinois

Do you think you have a medical malpractice claim based on a healthcare provider’s failure to diagnose a medical condition that occurred in Illinois? If you are located in Chicago or the surrounding areas, contact the experienced Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyers for a free case evaluation today.