Failure to Diagnose and the Ones Responsible

31 Aug Failure to Diagnose and the Ones Responsible

Almost half of the medical malpractice claims filed every year allege that a doctor failed to diagnose a dangerous condition suffered by a patient. A case in Indiana gives a good example of how these cases work.
Dr. Mark Weinberger was sued in civil court for failing to diagnose lung cancer in one of his patients. The patient was treated for other medical conditions, according to an article from NBC Chicago, leading to the lawsuit. The reason for the other treatments was alleged to have been a scheme to make money off of the patient, according to the suit.

The jury ended up taking the patient's side and awarding her $13 million in damages due to the diagnosis. The doctor is currently facing criminal charges for healthcare fraud in a separate case from the one that led to the lawsuit.

Failure to Diagnose and Medical Malpractice

The lawyers that argued for Weinberger tried to defend their client by pointing out that cancer can be hard to detect, according to the article. This, of course, is true and many cancers aren't discovered by doctors until their later stages. This doesn’t mean that doctors don't have a duty to their patients and that failing to diagnose a potentially deadly condition is excused because it's hard. The jury, in this case, found that the doctor's failure to diagnose the cancer was a breach of duty to his patients.

A lawyer arguing one of these cases will try to establish to the jury why the condition should have been diagnosed and how the doctor's failure to do so was a breach of their duties. Not all doctors fail to diagnose deliberately so that they can make money off of their patients in other ways, but they do have a duty to deliver component care in any regard.

If you believe that a doctor's failure to diagnose a condition has led you to further financial harm and pain and suffering, filing a medical malpractice claim may be an option. Lawyers for medical malpractice can take a look at your situation and determine if it's likely that you have a chance of winning such a claim. Consulting with them is the first step and it's best to do it as soon as possible so you don't miss your window of time to file the claim and seek compensation in a court of law.