A Misdiagnosis Or Failure To Diagnose Can Be Serious And Life-Threatening

There may be just one opportunity to treat a medical condition before it worsens. An incorrect diagnosis or a delay in diagnosis can be devastating for the patient and the family. Failure to diagnose — if it can be proven — is grounds for a medical malpractice lawsuit.

Porzio Injury has a strong record of holding physicians and hospitals accountable for diagnosis errors. Our lawyers have secured notable verdicts and settlements in misdiagnosis cases.

An Accurate Diagnosis Is Key To Everything

Failure to diagnose a life-threatening condition may cause a preventable death. A delayed diagnosis of cancer may rob a patient of treatment options to beat the disease or extend life. An undiagnosed tumor may progress to permanent injury. A misdiagnosis often leads to unnecessary treatment or irreversible harm.

Our attorneys have recovered medical malpractice compensation for failure to diagnose in a wide range of cases, including:

• Cancer
• Heart conditions
• Acute conditions (appendicitis, sepsis, internal bleeding, stroke)
• Broken bones
• Spinal tumors
• Pregnancy complications
• Emergency room errors

Misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis may be due to any number of things: failure to order tests, misreading of lab results, miscommunications, failure to listen to patient complaints, failure to follow up, or simply making assumptions rather than following standard medical protocols. Our team is skilled at reviewing medical records to find the specific event or series of mistakes that resulted in the false diagnosis or failure to diagnose.

We represented a 4-year-old who is permanently disabled due to delayed diagnosis of a tumor on his lower spinal cord. The pediatrician ordered thoracic and cranial CT scans, but never ordered a lumbar MRI, which would have revealed the tumor. Our firm has handled five cases of undiagnosed spinal cord hematomas resulting in neurological injury or paralysis. In another case, a patient experiencing shortness of breath on day 12 after a tracheotomy died on day 24 from undiagnosed tracheal stenosis — a slow death by asphyxiation that could have been treated.

Do You Believe That Medical Professionals Missed The Signs?

Porzio Injury serves communities in North Jersey and statewide. Call 201-429-7892 to discuss a misdiagnosis or failure to diagnose claim with proven malpractice attorneys.