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Have you or a family member been affected by a misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis by a medical professional? When you or a loved one has become ill, injured, or dies due to a lack of treatment, late treatment, or the wrong type of treatment, you have the right to file a claim and get compensated for your losses.
Our Washington, DC, medical misdiagnosis lawyers have been helping injury victims throughout the DC Metro area for over three decades. With a trained nurse on staff, we have the expertise to determine when the diagnosis should have been made. A top DC medical malpractice lawyer at Regan Zambri Long PLLC can help you claim compensation for damages that you are entitled to by law.
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Your misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis may be a part of a medical malpractice claim, and you may be entitled to receive significant compensation for the damages that have occurred. A top DC medical malpractice lawyer at Regan Zambri Long PLLC can help you claim compensation for damages you are entitled to by law.
Your misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis may be a part of a medical malpractice claim, and you may be entitled to receive significant compensation for the damages that have occurred.
It’s important to know what your legal options are in medical malpractice cases. We offer a free initial consultation to medical malpractice victims in the DC, Maryland and Virginia.
According to a study published in the peer-reviewed journal BML Quality & Safety, each year, approximately 12 million people treated in outpatient clinics and emergency rooms across the US are victims of misdiagnosis. Researchers found that roughly half of these patients were seriously injured by negligence.
While one of the main consequences of misdiagnosis is delayed treatment of a patient’s actual medical condition, sometimes, this medical malpractice can cause serious harm. When a doctor fails to diagnose a medical condition properly, it could eventually lead to the wrong medication being prescribed, an unnecessary medical procedure, or other medical errors. These errors can lead to high medical expenses, as well as further pain and suffering for patients and their families.
What causes a misdiagnosis or a delayed diagnosis? Several factors can lead to a misdiagnosis, including but not limited to:
Diagnostic testing is usually the first step, giving the healthcare provider an accurate picture of what’s happening with the patient. Delayed testing can cause serious harm to patients. Delayed testing can result from several factors, including the patient’s insurance company not covering the cost or the doctor making assumptions about the root cause.
Sometimes, a physician does not have the proper knowledge or training to recognize the symptoms of certain diseases. Instead of ordering additional testing, a physician may ignore symptoms or disregard their severity. In other cases, the medical provider may have ordered testing but didn’t know how to read the results, leading to a misdiagnosis.
Healthcare providers are in high demand and often see multiple patients during an appointment window, so they don’t spend much one-on-one time with patients. The average length of a visit with a physician is 17 minutes, according to a study published in the journal Health Services Research. This is rarely enough time to get a complete medical history, discuss a patient’s symptoms, review test results, and diagnose correctly.
Medical professionals are human and can make diagnostic errors. Not all mistakes are made with negligence or malicious intent. However, a misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis claim should be filed when the doctor or healthcare provider acted negligently or had malicious intentions while making a misdiagnosis or late diagnosis. It causes harm, injury, or death.
Several requirements must be met to prove negligence or fault in a misdiagnosis lawsuit, including:
In most cases, the physician can be sued for misdiagnosis or a delayed diagnosis. However, there may be times when other parties may be held liable as well. These include nurses, lab technicians, medical specialists, and the medical facility. Your DC medical malpractice lawyer will ensure that all liable parties are held responsible.
A negligent doctor or another medical professional can misdiagnose any condition. The top 10 most commonly missed or delayed diagnoses, according to a 2022 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, are:
No matter the misdiagnosis or late diagnosis that has dramatically affected you and your loved ones, a medical malpractice lawyer at Regan Zambri Long can help you build the strongest case possible to get the compensation you deserve.
When a doctor or medical professional has caused you or a loved one harm due to incorrect treatment, late treatment, or lack of treatment, you can pursue a medical malpractice lawsuit and claim damages that occurred as a result of the malpractice.
Common damages that are recovered in a misdiagnosis or late diagnosis medical malpractice case include but are not limited to:
Any type of medical malpractice claim can be overwhelming and you will need a top DC medical malpractice lawyer at Regan Zambri Long to guide you through the process.
A misdiagnosis occurs when a medical professional says that the patient has a medical condition they did not have. For example, a doctor diagnoses someone with breast cancer. After extensive and painful treatments, it was revealed that the mass found in the person’s breast was a noncancerous cyst.
A delayed diagnosis, also known as a missed diagnosis, means the medical professional does not diagnose the patient with a condition despite the patient presenting with signs and symptoms. An example of a delayed diagnosis would be a patient showing signs of a stroke, but is not treated until it too late. Stroke diagnosis and treatment delays may worsen neurological damage, increasing the risk of paralysis or permanent disability.
Since a misdiagnosis, delayed diagnosis, or lack of diagnosis falls under medical malpractice, the Washington, DC statute of limitations or applicable local statute of limitations for the jurisdiction applies. It is essential to consult with a lawyer as soon as possible because the statute begins when the malpractice is discovered. In addition, these factors are very fact-specific. For that reason, you should consult with an attorney as soon as you believe you or a family member may have been a victim of medical malpractice.
Outside these periods, the victim or the victim’s family members will likely be unable to collect compensation.
It depends on where you live in the DC Metro area:
The physician can be sued for your misdiagnosis or a delayed diagnosis in most cases. However, there may be times when other parties may be held liable as well. These include nurses, lab technicians, medical specialists, and the medical facility.
You are entitled to compensation when you or a loved one suffers a misdiagnosis. Regan Zambri Long’s DC lawyers know that a lawsuit may feel like an extra burden, but we are ready to shoulder the legal burden for you so that you or your loved one can focus on getting the care you need.
We will meet with you for a free consultation to discuss your case, and from there, you can rest assured that your case is in the best hands possible. Operating on a contingency basis, we only collect fees once we’ve recovered in your favor. Our network of professionals and experts will work with us to review your medical treatment and records to identify and prove your misdiagnosis so that we can hold the liable parties responsible.
Don’t let the misdiagnosis of your doctor continue to impact your life. Schedule your free case evaluation today and let Regan Zambri Long’s DC misdiagnosis lawyers pursue justice for you.
