A misdiagnosis by a Fort Lauderdale health care professional can derail your life. Instead of addressing your medical issue, a misdiagnosis can compound your suffering as your original health problem remains untreated. If you placed trust in a doctor or other medical professional who failed to properly diagnose you, you may want to pursue compensation for your damages. Consider contacting a Fort Lauderdale medical malpractice lawyer today for a free case evaluation.
Doctors, Patients, and Trust
In general, we entrust doctors with our healthcare decisions and expect following that advice to improve our lives. However, no one seeks medical help expecting to suffer a lifetime of complications.
Research shows that misdiagnosis may play a role in as many as 80,000 to 160,000 cases of serious harm to people’s health each year. Most misdiagnoses occur in emergencies or outpatient settings.
Common types of misdiagnoses include:
- Infections
- Cancers
- Cardiovascular events
A misdiagnosis of one of the three types listed above can forever impact your health. The treatments your doctor may order—such as chemotherapy or radiation for nonexistent cancer—may cause you to feel worse and further harm your existing condition.
Patients trust doctors and other healthcare providers with their lives. There is no room for error when it comes to patient care. If your doctor or another medical professional caused you to suffer unnecessary harm, contact an attorney today.
Misdiagnosis: Common Causes
When a medical professional issues a diagnosis, most patients feel a sense of relief. Knowing the root cause of your health problems can relieve your anxiety and discomfort. However, when you receive an incorrect diagnosis, it can result in additional physical, emotional, and physical issues.
Medical professionals owe patients a duty of care.
Several types of negligence may contribute to a misdiagnosis, including:
- Poor communication: Multiple health care providers typically treat the same patient. A breakdown in communication between doctors or other medical staff can lead to a misdiagnosis.
- Doctor burnout: Physicians sometimes suffer from emotional exhaustion due to a high volume of patients. A poor attitude and dissatisfaction with their career may lead to a misdiagnosis.
- Diagnostic issues: From malfunctioning equipment to a misinterpretation of the results, diagnostic issues can forever change your life. According to the Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine, diagnostic errors affect an estimated 12 million Americans each year.
This is not a complete list of the multiple causes of a medical misdiagnosis. If you or a loved one suffered serious harm due to a negligent health care professional, consider contacting a lawyer.
A medical malpractice lawyer can help you pursue a claim and lawsuit against those responsible for your harm. Placing your case in the hands of a Fort Lauderdale lawyer allows you valuable time to pursue the medical care you need to feel better.
Misdiagnosis and Your Damages
A misdiagnosis worsens your quality of life and increases your financial stress. Your condition may not allow you to return to work or result in a permanent disability. While your ability to work may stop, the medical bills do not.
A Fort Lauderdale medical malpractice attorney typically fights for:
- Medical costs: The costs of treatments and procedures relating to your misdiagnosis.
- Ongoing medical costs: The costs relating to ongoing medical needs resulting from the misdiagnosis, such as therapies and medications.
- Lost wages: The loss of pay you experienced due to unnecessary medical appointments, tests, and procedures.
- Loss of future earning capacity: Your potential income if your misdiagnosis had not prevented you from returning to your job.
- Pain and suffering: The mental anguish associated with the misdiagnosis and the impact on your quality of life.
We can never guarantee that you will recover compensation; however, you can pursue it more easily with the help of a lawyer. Don’t risk representing yourself against insurance companies and lawyers. The skills and experience of those representing the liable parties in your case may prove too much as you recover from your misdiagnosis.
If you face high medical costs and cannot work, you may want to consult a Fort Lauderdale medical malpractice law firm as soon as possible. A free case evaluation constitutes an important first step toward pursuing justice for your harm and compensation for your damages.
A Fort Lauderdale Misdiagnosis
As the third most populated state in the United States, Florida residents outnumber physicians. Seeking health care in an outpatient or emergency setting may result in far worse than a long wait—it can result in a misdiagnosis and possible death.
Mistakes occur in almost every professional imaginable; there is no room for error in the medical field. Misdiagnosis constitutes a starting point for unnecessary treatments and side effects that can result in serious consequences.
No one should deal with mounting medical costs, dangerous side effects, or a permanent disability due to a misdiagnosis. The stress of your situation may affect your marriage and your ability to parent and result in the loss of your career.
If possible, you should pursue compensation for your misdiagnosis. Give careful thought to contacting a Fort Lauderdale medical malpractice lawyer without delay. A free case evaluation leaves you nothing to lose and can provide you with important information for moving forward.
Fatal Misdiagnosis and Wrongful Death
The loss of a loved one due to misdiagnosis can prove devastating. While no amount of compensation can replace your loss, it can help ease your financial stress. By holding those liable accountable for their actions, you may prevent the same mistake from happening again.
A fatal misdiagnosis can cause you to suffer a loss in monthly income and result in unnecessary medical costs. In addition to these economic damages, you may also qualify to pursue non-economic damages, such as the loss of companionship.
Non-economic damages can make a wrongful death case complex and challenging. No amount of monetary compensation will replace the loss of your loved one’s companionship. You should leave the role of conveying that message to insurance companies or a jury to a professional attorney.
A Fort Lauderdale wrongful death lawyer can determine if your relationship with the decedent qualifies you for legal action.
Examples of familial relationships that typically qualify include:
- Surviving spouses
- Parents
- Children
If you don’t know whether your relationship qualifies you for a civil lawsuit, consider contacting a wrongful death lawyer today. Wrongful death lawyers aggressively fight for the maximum compensation on your behalf while treating you with compassion and care.
How a Fort Lauderdale Lawyer Can Help You
A serious injury or illness that prompts you to seek medical help goes untreated with a misdiagnosis. The wrongful course of treatment can mask or worsen symptoms of your original condition, causing you great pain and discomfort. In especially tragic cases, a misdiagnosis can even prove fatal.
Having someone by your side and managing your claim and lawsuit will help your case. The medical industry knows how to protect its best interests with aggressive insurance companies and attorneys. You can protect your best interests by hiring a Fort Lauderdale medical malpractice lawyer to represent you.
Medical facilities and professionals generally want malpractice cases to go away quickly and quietly. If an insurance representative offers you a settlement, and you do not have a lawyer, do not accept it.
Should you accept the insurance company’s offer, you may not pursue compensation later, should your medical condition worsen. While the amount initially offered to you may seem like a large sum, such offers typically won’t cover future medical care.
The last thing the insurance company wants you to do constitutes the first thing you, in fact, should do—hire an attorney. The sooner you reach out for a free case evaluation, the faster an attorney can get to work on your case.
Your health demands your full focus and attention. You need to focus on rest and recovery, which can make it impossible to manage the legal aspects of your case alone. A Fort Lauderdale attorney can handle aggressive insurance companies by negotiating for a fair settlement on your behalf.
Many medical malpractice cases settle out-of-court. If necessary, your attorney has the skills needed to present your case before a judge and jury. If you sought medical treatment only to experience a misdiagnosis, consider contacting an attorney today.
You Can Help Your Lawyer With Your Case
A misdiagnosis can leave you feeling confused and uncertain about how to help your case.
However, you can save your lawyer valuable time by:
- Gathering medical reports
- Collecting names and contact information for possible witnesses
- Providing your lawyer with any photographs or video concerning your misdiagnosis
Any evidence you may possess can help your lawyer build a strong compensation case. A Fort Lauderdale medical misdiagnosis lawyer will fight for the best outcome possible for your case.
Pursuing a medical malpractice claim and lawsuit takes time, something that is not on your side. If you miss important court deadlines for filing your lawsuit, you may lose your chance to recover compensation forever.
Your lawyer has familiarity with Florida laws concerning the statute of limitations. Knowing that an experienced lawyer has taken over your case can help you rest easier as you heal from your misdiagnosis or mourn your loss.
Fort Lauderdale Misdiagnosis Lawyer: Helping Victims of Medical Harm
Doctors and other medical professionals owe patients a duty of care. Being tired and overworked or working with malfunctioning diagnostic equipment doesn’t constitute an excuse for the damaging effect on your life that a misdiagnosis can have. If you suffered serious harm due to medical negligence, you may want to contact a Fort Lauderdale misdiagnosis lawyer today.
Whether your long-time family physician or an emergency department doctor provided you with the misdiagnosis, you should not bear liability for your damages. Seeking justice and compensation for your costs and losses works best with a lawyer by your side.
The mistrust you experienced demands accountability. A lawyer can investigate and identify those liable for your harm. Your case may involve more than one liable party.
No matter how tempting it may feel to accept an insurance company’s initial offer, consider contacting an attorney first. You cannot reverse the decision to accept a settlement once you sign the paperwork. Once you’ve accepted it, the insurance company closes your claim, ending your chances for further compensation.
A medical misdiagnosis constitutes preventable harm. If your medical care resulted in a misdiagnosis, you should contact a lawyer now. Taking quick action and hiring a lawyer removes the burden from your shoulders, allowing you to focus on your recovery.
Following a misdiagnosis, you should seek medical care that you can trust. Your search may leave you with little time to deal with phone calls, legal paperwork, or the details of your case.
If you need peace and rest following your misdiagnosis and recovery—or loss —consider hiring a lawyer to represent you. Once you retain an attorney, you have representation from your initial claim to a possible trial.
Representing yourself can result in disappointment and affect your health. Give careful thought to contacting a Fort Lauderdale attorney today. The insurance companies and attorneys representing those liable for your harm will not wait to defend their case.
You must match their quick action by securing a lawyer without delay. Consider protecting your best interests by placing your case in qualified hands. Most Fort Lauderdale medical malpractice lawyers work on a contingency fee basis. This means that you can afford a lawyer, as many lawyers only collect their fees if and when they win your case. Medical malpractice lawyers understand that patients of a misdiagnosis face extensive medical bills and an inability to pay them.
Victims of a misdiagnosis deserve to fight for justice and compensation. If this happened to you, or you lost a close loved one, you should contact a Fort Lauderdale medical malpractice lawyer today.