When Is a Florida Doctor Liable for Failing to Correctly Diagnose a Patient?

Mistakes happen in every line of work. Even the most experienced professional can make an error in judgment. Unfortunately, when that professional is a physician, such errors can prove costly to the patients.

While we often associate medical malpractice with cases of a doctor performing a procedure incorrectly, such as a botched surgery or leaving an object inside of a patient, it is often diagnostic errors that are far more likely to seriously harm a patient. Indeed, failure to diagnose is one of the more common forms of medical malpractice that our attorneys at Pita Weber Del Prado handle.

The Three Types of Medical Diagnostic Failures

A failure to diagnose generally takes one of the following forms:

• Incorrect Diagnosis — A health care provider diagnoses the patient with the wrong condition.
• Delayed Diagnosis — A health care provider diagnoses the patient correctly but only after a delay that affects the outcome of the case.
• Missed Diagnosis — A health care provider fails to make a diagnosis at all.

We can use a cancer diagnosis to illustrate how all thee types of failure to diagnose can harm a patient:

• Incorrect Diagnosis — A doctor diagnoses the patient with the wrong form of cancer leading to incorrect treatment.
• Delayed Diagnosis — A doctor correctly diagnoses the patient’s cancer later than it should have been reasonably discovered, and as a result the cancer has progressed to a more advanced stage.
• Missed Diagnosis — A doctor discharges the patient without making any cancer diagnosis even when there were clear signs or symptoms.

At this point, we need to explain that just because there was a failure to diagnose, that alone does not establish medical malpractice under Florida law. The patient needs to prove that the failure to diagnose was the result of negligence, and that negligence caused them harm. With respect to negligence, Florida requires the expert testimony of a qualified health care provider, usually someone in the same specialty as the doctor who treated you, to explain how your doctor deviated from the accepted “standard of care” for their profession.

As for harm, that is often not difficult to prove but is still a necessary element. For example, if you required additional treatment and incurred higher medical bills as a result of your doctor’s initial failure to diagnose, that is sufficient proof of harm. And as with all personal injury cases, you can also seek non-economic damages. This includes compensation for the additional pain, suffering, and loss of quality of life you must endure due to the original misdiagnoses.

Contact a Miami Failure to Diagnose Lawyer Today

Far too many South Florida patients suffer serious complications, and in some cases death, due to a health care provider’s incorrect, delayed, or missed diagnosis. If that describes your situation or that of a family member, our Miami failure to diagnose attorneys can represent you in bringing a medical malpractice claim. Contact Pita Weber Del Prado today at 305-670-2889 to schedule a free consultation.