Sometimes, even doctors get it wrong. If a doctor missed the signs of a medical condition that another reasonable and prudent physician would have caught, however, this may be a form of medical malpractice known as failure to diagnose. In this case, you may have grounds to file a lawsuit in New Mexico.
Discuss the possibility of a failure to diagnose lawsuit with an attorney in Albuquerque at The Fine Law Firm today. We offer free consultations where you can have your questions heard.
Why Choose Our Failure to Diagnose Lawyer?
- We aren’t afraid to go up against large and powerful defendants, including hospitals.
- Our law firm has a 99 percent success rate.
- We prepare each case as if it will go to trial so that we are ready for anything.
- Our attorneys value communication and are available 24 hours a day.
- We accept medical malpractice cases on a contingency fee basis, meaning no fees unless we win.
How a Lawyer Can Help
Hiring an attorney to represent you during any type of medical malpractice lawsuit can strengthen your ability to go up against a physician, hospital or another health care provider. A lawyer will understand how related laws work and how to navigate the legal system. A lawyer can use aggressive legal strategies to negotiate with an insurance company on your behalf for the best possible case outcome. Overall, hiring an attorney can give you the peace of mind that you need to focus on your future while a licensed professional handles your case.
What Is Failure to Diagnose?
In medical malpractice law, failure to diagnose is when a doctor does not carry out the appropriate steps to correctly identify a patient’s medical problem. Physicians have a legal and ethical obligation to properly care for their patients. Although the law does not require correct diagnoses 100 percent of the time, it does require due care in connecting signs and symptoms with the underlying condition.
Properly diagnosing or detecting a patient’s medical problem requires steps such as:
- Carefully reviewing the patient’s medical and family histories.
- Listening attentively to the issues and symptoms that are bothering the patient.
- Conducting a physical exam of the patient.
- Creating a list of possible diagnoses based on the facts at hand.
- Recommending the appropriate tests and x-rays to narrow down the list.
- Correctly interpreting the results of diagnostic tests.
- Coming to the most reasonable diagnosis.
If a doctor skips any of these steps or incorrectly carries them out, this can result in the negligent failure to diagnose a medical condition. A physician who is inattentive or rushes through a patient’s appointment, for example, may miss something important and fail to diagnose the condition in question. If another health care provider in the same or similar circumstances would have come to a correct and timely diagnosis, the physician could be guilty of medical malpractice.
Compensation Available in a Failure to Diagnose Lawsuit in Albuquerque
Failure to diagnose – as well as misdiagnosis and delayed diagnosis – can have devastating consequences for a patient. Many of the most frequently undiagnosed diseases are life-threatening, including stroke, heart attack and cancer. The patient may not receive the medical treatments that he or she needs, resulting in worsening of the medical condition or even wrongful death in Albuquerque
A successful medical malpractice settlement or jury trial can hold a wrongdoer accountable for failure to diagnose. It can also result in a monetary recovery for the patient’s related losses, including medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, psychological distress, and decreased quality of life.
Contact an Attorney Today
If you or a loved one suffered because of a doctor’s failure to diagnose, you may have grounds to file a medical malpractice claim. Learn more about your legal rights in Albuquerque during a free case evaluation with an attorney at The Fine Law Firm. Contact us online or call (505) 889-3463 today to request your consultation.