Failure to Diagnose

Helping Those Injured by Medical Professionals in Massachusetts

Realizing that your healthcare provider failed to diagnose your medical condition in an appropriate and timely manner is devastating. The victim often begins to wonder what his or her outcome would be had the healthcare provider rendered appropriate care and whether he or she has a claim for legal damages against the healthcare provider. The Massachusetts medical malpractice attorneys at the Law Offices of Barry Feinstein and Affiliates P.C. is available to represent injury victims who have suffered harm as the result of a healthcare provider’s failure to diagnose an injury.

Failure to Diagnose Health Conditions

One of the primary reasons that we seek medical care is to diagnose health problems that we are experiencing so that we can receive treatment to reduce or mitigate the impact of the condition. Although there are some situations where a patient’s symptoms are so diverse that identifying the underlying condition or cause is challenging for any medical professional, there are many situations where a doctor should have been able to make a timely and accurate diagnosis. In these situations, the doctor may be liable to the patient for the damages that result from his or her failure to make a diagnosis.

Medical professionals undergo specific training on how to make a diagnosis. This often involves considering the list of symptoms and ordering tests to rule out possible diagnoses. The types of symptoms that a patient is experiencing along with relevant aspects of his or her health history are what inform the doctor’s decision about which tests to perform. Even if a patient in Massachusetts is not experiencing any current health problems, there are some routine screenings that doctors should perform based on a patient’s age, health history, family history, occupation, and more. Proper screenings can identify serious medical conditions and allow ample time for treatment. If a doctor fails to order testing related to your symptoms or fails to perform basic screenings, the diagnosis may be too late for the treatment to be effective.

Establishing Your Right to Compensation

In a medical malpractice claim, the plaintiff must show that the defendant’s level of care fell below the standard of care accepted in the local medical community and in accordance with the training and specialties that the doctor may have earned. This means that if your doctor is a board certified specialist practicing in Boston, the standard of care that he or she must provide you is measured by the care that a reasonable and prudent board certified specialist would have rendered when treating a patient with similar symptoms and health history. Establishing the level of care that you were owed can be difficult in a medical malpractice claim, which is why speaking with a knowledgeable medical malpractice lawyer is so critical.

You must also show that the defendant’s failure to use the appropriate standard of care in diagnosing your condition was the direct and foreseeable cause of the injuries that you sustained. This means that if the defendant can point to some other factor as the primary cause of your injury, or show that a timely diagnosis would not have changed the outcome, then you may be barred from recovering compensation. Most patients asserting claims for failure to diagnose must work with medical experts to advise on their claim and have them testify on their behalf about the standard of care and whether this failure was the direct cause of his or her injuries.

A successful plaintiff can recover damages for a number of things including past and future estimated medical costs, lost earnings, and pain and suffering.

Meet With a Compassionate Medical Malpractice Attorney in Massachusetts

At the Law Offices of Barry Feinstein and Affiliates P.C., we have seen all too often how frequently doctors can fail to make an appropriate and timely diagnosis for a patient. This tragic situation can lead to a permanent and painful outcome for the patient. Although no amount of money can make you whole again, discussing your case with an attorney can help you deal with the financial impact of the missed diagnosis so that your family can focus on grieving and dealing with the outcome. We are available to serve clients in areas around Boston, Cambridge, Waltham, Lowell, Newton, Somerville, Quincy, Dedham, Norwood, Brookline, and Peabody. Call our office today at  (800) 262-9200 or contact us online to schedule your free and confidential consultation.