Failure to Diagnose Lawyers – Attorneys in Phoenix, Arizona

With every year that passes, the healthcare industry becomes more and more overloaded. Fewer students are choosing technician and nursing jobs, and existing doctors are being stretched to the limit by an aging baby boomer population. Although this situation should not affect the level of care you receive in the doctor’s office, the sad truth is that there is a higher risk of doctors “going through the motions” in an effort to treat more patients in a short amount of time.

If your doctor exhibits a failure to diagnose your condition, you may wish to contact lawyers for assistance. Experienced attorneys, familiar with the Phoenix, Arizona healthcare industry, can explain to you your legal rights in the case of a failure to diagnose; you may be able to obtain compensation for your medical costs, especially if the mistake resulted in a hard-to-treat, long-term disease such as cancer or heart disease. Don’t let the mistake of a moment ruin the quality of your life.

“Failure to Diagnose” Defined

When you visit the doctor, you have a reasonable expectation of being able to trust your doctor’s expertise. Your medical concerns should be recognized and treated in a timely fashion. If your doctor either reaches the wrong conclusion or fails to recognize your condition, he or she may be liable for a form of medical malpractice known as failure to diagnose. Our attorneys, serving Phoenix and Arizona, will pursue your case if it qualifies by having any of the following characteristics of failure to diagnose:

• Your treatment consisted of errors that would not be expected from a well-trained doctor
• Your doctor failed to study your medical history
• Your doctor failed to conduct proper diagnostic testing
• You were diagnosed as having a disease or condition that you did not actually have
• Obvious symptoms of a particular condition were ignored
• You were given medical advice that kept you from seeking further medical treatment
• Your diagnosis resulted in your existing condition causing further illness

Most failure to diagnose cases can be separated into two main categories: delayed diagnosis means that obvious symptoms were overlooked or dismissed; misdiagnosis pertains to a disease or condition being wrongly diagnosed as a different medical problem, and possibly treated wrongly as a result.

Misdiagnosis is the most recognizable type of failure to diagnose; however, our lawyers in Phoenix emphasize that delayed diagnosis is a far more common situation, and just as dangerous to your health. For example, if you have lung cancer but your doctor wastes precious treatment time by suggesting that you have a respiratory infection instead, your long-term health and even your life may be in jeopardy. To find out if your delayed diagnosis is due to a failure to diagnose, the attorneys of Arizona law firm Phillips & Associates can review your case in a free consultation; contact our medical malpractice attorneys today.

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Conditions Commonly Misdiagnosed

Just about any condition or disease can be misdiagnosed or delayed in diagnosis. The tendency for a doctor’s failure to diagnose often stems from incomplete or incorrect information gathered by assistants, nurses, or other doctors. However, this lack of communication does not lessen the doctor’s responsibility to provide accurate treatment – the results are simply too important. Below, some of the conditions most severely affected by a failure to diagnose have been compiled by our attorneys.

Cancer

In most cases, cancer patients have the best chances for full recovery and survival if their disease is diagnosed and treated as early and aggressively as possible. A doctor’s failure to diagnose cancer in its earliest stages may result in the patient having to undergo more arduous and painful treatment than necessary. In extreme cases, the patient might die if the cancer reaches an advanced level due to the doctor’s failure to diagnose. Our lawyers report that cancer is, sadly, one of the most common poorly diagnosed diseases; skin cancer and breast cancer are especially susceptible to misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis. If you or a family member has been affected by cancer that was not diagnosed in a timely fashion, contact Phillips & Associates today. Our failure to diagnose attorneys have a great deal of expertise and will be able to determine whether you can sue the doctor and hospital for compensation related to your illness.

Dental Malpractice

Failure to diagnose , delay in diagnosis, and misdiagnosis are also common in dentistry. A dentist may decide that a tooth should be extracted, only to find that the extreme action was unnecessary. He or she may fail to see the warning signs of advanced periodontal disease, resulting in tooth loss and poor gum health. Situations such as these have permanent impact on the patient and should be treated as serious examples of failure to diagnose. Contact the lawyers at the Phoenix office of Phillips & Associates to find out if your experience qualifies as dental malpractice.

Heart Attack and Stroke

It is estimated that nearly eight percent of heart attack victims fail to be diagnosed as such; instead, they are told that they have heartburn or other harmless chest pain and are sent home. Often, this failure to diagnose can be deadly; our attorneys are available to help families to recover from this tragedy both emotionally and financially.

One of the most common reasons that doctors misdiagnose heart attacks is that they rely too much on statistics. Since older men are more likely than other groups to have heart attacks, doctors are less likely to consider the possibility of heart attack in younger people and women who experience chest pains. This reliance on generalized medical knowledge could qualify as medical malpractice, especially if the patient experienced further illness or even death.

What to Do Next

It may be difficult to determine whether your case qualifies as failure to diagnose without detailed research by qualified attorneys. If your illness was treated by a doctor in Phoenix or elsewhere in Arizona, Phillips & Associates can assist you and your family. Our first step will be to determine whether your medical situation warrants a failure to diagnose lawsuit. If your case qualifies, we will begin to research the actions taken by the doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals involved in your treatment. If we find that they did not exercise an acceptable amount of care in your diagnosis, you may be eligible to receive compensation for medical costs incurred, pain, suffering, and other damages.

If you believe that you experienced advanced illness or pain due to a doctor’s failure to diagnose your condition, contact the lawyers of Phillips & Associates, serving Phoenix and the surrounding communities. Your first consultation is free.

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