Cancer diagnoses are very serious and often come with a time constraint on when you can be treated. Discovering what you thought was a mild ailment by one doctor is actually cancer is heart-stopping and can leave you wondering what you should do next.
What steps can you take after you’ve been told you had a cancer misdiagnosis?
If you’ve been told that you have cancer that went unreported by a previous doctor, don’t worry; there are steps that you can take to get justice.
Failure to Diagnose: What Is It?
Failure to diagnose is a form of medical malpractice where your doctor does not perform all of the necessary tasks to properly discover the source of a patient’s illness. Medical malpractice is what happens when a health care professional neglects their patient in any form. This can happen with any form of illness, both serious and benign.
A medical misdiagnosis is a form of medical malpractice, as it often means the doctor or nurse in charge of the patient didn’t examine their patient thoroughly enough. It can also mean that the diagnosis wasn’t given in a timely manner compared to the severity of the illness. In cancer cases, this can be detrimental to the patient involved.
Should the misdiagnosed illness cause harm to the patient, there may be cause for legal action. For cancer patients, this could mean that your cancer has either grown significantly or spread to other organs.
Common Causes of Misdiagnosis
The causes of a cancer misdiagnosis can vary, but it is often due to an error during the screening process. People who are at risk for cancer are often screened regularly to check for any abnormalities. Whether the doctor wasn’t paying close enough attention to the machine’s readings or the machine encountered an error, cancer can be read as another illness or be missed altogether.
Cancer can also be difficult to detect on its own. Due to the many types of cancer that exist, as well as the varying levels of severity and speed of the cancer, the scan may not show anything at all. In these cases, doctors can only go off of the symptoms that are experienced rather than screening results.
Some cancers also present similarly to cysts and other benign skin abnormalities. It can be hard to tell the difference between cancer cells and fat cells, which makes distinguishing the two a challenge. For this reason, breast cancer misdiagnosis and other similar misdiagnosis occur.
What to Do After a Cancer Misdiagnosis
If you have become the victim of a cancer misdiagnosis, there are ways that you can proceed. Here are some tips for hiring professionals to help you.
How to Make a Lawsuit Against Your Doctor
If you’ve experienced unnecessary harm from a cancer misdiagnosis, or if your cancer has spread or grown when it could have been cared for, you may be able to take legal action against your provider. Of course, not every instance of a misdiagnosis can qualify you for compensation; you’ll want to talk with a lawyer about your experiences first to figure out if your case is liable. They will also tell you about the average settlement for cancer diagnosis in your particular circumstance so that you know whether or not to proceed with a suit.
Certain instances of misdiagnosis will be held at a different level than others. For example, someone afflicted with a type of cancer that should be easy to detect will be easier to hold up in court than a type of cancer that is harder to find.
In order to file a claim, you will need to have substantial evidence of malpractice or negligence. You will also have to decide if you want to sue your practitioner directly or the hospital as a whole. Your lawyer will be able to help with this decision and make the process easier.
A few examples of evidence that you’ll need to file your claim include:
- Your medical records
- Doctor’s notes from any doctors who have worked with you on the matter
- Witness statements
- Photographic or video evidence of malpractice
- Emails, letters, or any other correspondence you’ve had between you and your practitioners
If your doctor showed themselves negligent in any manner, then you may be able to receive compensation. Examples of negligence include them failing to ask specific questions, them forgetting or failing to send in items for testing, gave false information about your illness or gave it a fake name, or performed tests that no other doctor would have done for ethical reasons.
Issues You May Experience
You may find it difficult to accurately prove negligence on the part of the practitioner or hospital. This is because it can be hard to prove whether or not the harm you’ve experienced was a direct result of the cancer or another illness.
Some mistakes will not qualify as medical malpractice. If it is ruled that the mistake you’ve experienced is one that any doctor would or could make, then it does not qualify as medical malpractice. If your doctor is doing their best to cure your particular symptoms, even if they are misdiagnosing you, then they are unlikely to be proven as negligent.
You’ll want to have in-depth conversations with your lawyer about your case and any potential defenses that your provider or hospital may have against your claim. Your lawyer will be able to provide you with any help you need and get more evidence to support your claim.
Move Forward With Confidence
Getting a cancer misdiagnosis is terrifying, but there are ways that you can help yourself move forward. Remember to always employ a lawyer when handling a case of medical malpractice to get the most out of your claim.
Do you need help filing a medical malpractice suit against your provider or hospital?
We’re here to help. Contact our agency for any questions regarding your lawsuit for peace of mind today.
