Some of the most difficult cases for a specialized accident attorney are medical malpractice lawsuits. This is generally because they are hard to prove and very sensitive as far as medical responsibility. Many medical malpractice suits are the direct result of a misdiagnosis or a delayed diagnosis of an illness or injury. An error in diagnosis will generally lead to incorrect or delayed treatment plans leading to the worsening of a patient’s condition, sometimes even leading to death.

But, is a mistake in diagnosis enough to support a medical malpractice suit? Below are a few things to consider.

Legally, not all medical doctors are in all situations responsible for an error in diagnostic. So, if you are looking to win a medical malpractice case against a doctor, you need to provide proof of the following:

–          There was a medic- patient relationship in place

–          The doctor treated you in a negligent manner (they did not provide treatment in a timely and competent way).

–          The medical negligence brought about a worsening of your condition or even an injury.

An in-depth look at the negligence malpractice possible cases

–          An expert will have to be hired by your accidents attorney to assess the differential diagnosis that was given to you and overall determine if the medical doctor used reasonable care in your case. Evaluation is very important and admissible in court, provided the expert has a track record of such assessments and reputation as a medical professional.

–          The key in diagnostic error cases is to prove that another doctor, of the same expertize and under similar circumstances would not have either misdiagnosed or mistreated you.

Let us have a further look at various errors that may appear in a diagnostic test

–          A medical doctor may misdiagnose a patient because of wrong or inaccurate results coming from the lab. This may be because the equipment was faulty or some form of human error has occurred, the tests were lost, contaminated or mixed up, the procedure the lab technician used was incorrect or the specialist missed something in interpreting tests. In general, the medical doctor might not be made liable for malpractice when this occurs, but you do have a case against a lab technician.

–          A medical doctor has completely missed the diagnostic. This is a rare situation where a doctor can give the patient a clean bill of health, but the patient turns out to be sick

–          A wrong diagnosis can sometimes be given, when the doctor is unable to identify the right affliction the patient suffers of.

–          A delayed diagnosis is another form of misdiagnosis and this normally occurs when the doctor actually recognizes the right condition but after a significant testing period.

–          Another form of misdiagnosis is when a medical expert is unable to identify an unrelated disease, maybe a secondary affliction that causes additional symptoms and can worsen the patient’ situation.

The most important thing when it comes to a medical misdiagnosis is to be able to prove the medical expert was at fault. For this, you can benefit from the help of a specialized accidents attorney, with a proven track record of won cases in court.