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I Was Misdiagnosed, Is This Considered Medical Malpractice?

Misdiagnosis can be medical malpractice in some cases, but not in others. There is more required than simply showing that your doctor misdiagnosed your condition in order to have a medical malpractice claim. In order to prove medical malpractice, you must prove that negligence caused your misdiagnosis and resulting injuries. So a misdiagnosis is only considered medical malpractice if negligence was involved and an injury occurred as a result.

Medical malpractice negligence and injury causation

Two of the most important elements in a medical malpractice claim are negligence and injury causation.

  • Negligence – In order to prove negligence, you have to show that a medical professional breached the medical standard of care when he or she misdiagnosed your condition. Standard of care is based on the skill and care that other medical professionals in the same practice area with similar education and knowledge would have exercised in that situation. Essentially, did your doctor’s conduct and misdiagnosis conclusions depart from acceptable medical practices?
  • Causation – Just because you have proven negligence does not mean you are home free. You must then be able to link your injuries to that negligence. Were your injuries caused by your medical professional’s negligent misdiagnosis? Or you can ask, if the negligent misdiagnosis had not happened, would you still have sustained your injuries or would your injuries have been less severe?

If you can show that a medical professional’s misdiagnosis was negligent and you were injured as a result of that misdiagnosis, you may have a medical malpractice case. If you believe you may have a medical malpractice case due to a misdiagnosis, contact Philadelphia medical malpractice attorney, Eric Weitz, to schedule a consultation. Our medical malpractice team has spent more than 25 years working to see that medical malpractice victims and their families are fully compensated for their injuries and damages.

Common medical malpractice defenses raised by defendants include the following:

  • Missing medical malpractice element – As mentioned above, negligence and injury causation are two elements that must be present to have a medical malpractice claim. Additional elements are that a doctor-patient relationship existed and that a plaintiff sustained actual quantifiable damages due to the medical malpractice. If any of the four elements are missing, the defense will argue that medical malpractice did not occur.
  • The statute of limitations has run – In Pennsylvania the applicable statute of limitations for a medical malpractice claim is generally two years, but there are many exceptions to the two-year rule where a plaintiff ends up with longer than two years to file his or her claim. You should consult with a medical malpractice attorney before concluding that the statute of limitations has run in your case.
  • Comparative negligence – The defendants may argue that even if they were negligent, the plaintiff was negligent as well. Comparative negligence is not a complete bar to a medical malpractice claim unless the plaintiff is found to be more than 50% at fault.

Recovery

In order to be fully compensated for your medical malpractice claim you need to examine all of your injuries and resulting damages such as lost wages, lost future earning potential, pain and suffering, loss of consortium, medical expenses, and disability. Our medical malpractice team will help determine the value of your injuries and damages and we will work to see that you receive maximum compensation.

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