Medical Misdiagnosis

Receiving medical treatment for the proper diagnosis based on your symptoms in a timely manner is important.

For a life-threatening disease like breast cancer, lung cancer, ovarian cancer, or mesothelioma, a delayed diagnosis can be fatal, as these conditions are easier to treat at earlier stages. With any medical condition, an accurate diagnosis is critical to your overall health.

Unfortunately, diagnostic errors are common. The Chicago misdiagnosis lawyers at Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers have helped clients recover millions of dollars in compensation for misdiagnosis claims. Read on to learn more about all the ways we can help.

Is Misdiagnosis Considered Medical Negligence?

When a healthcare provider fails to provide patients with care that meets a certain standard of care, it is considered medical negligence. If the medical negligence causes a patient’s injury, it is considered medical malpractice.

Under Illinois law, it isn’t enough for you to believe you have a medical malpractice claim. Rather, you must get another doctor or healthcare expert to prepare an Affidavit of Merit that demonstrates the medical error.

Common Causes and Types of Misdiagnoses

There are many different reasons why a diagnosis error might occur. This includes poor communication between different providers and staff, a lack of experience or training, incompetency, failure to gather necessary information, and poor critical thinking skills.

At many hospitals and practices, practitioners have very little time to interact individually with patients. They must also balance many competing tasks. As a result, some physicians may fail to get the history they need or spend enough time examining each patient. Their negligence can put their patients at risk.

Some common types of medical misdiagnosis an attorney can help you recover fair compensation for include:

• Missed diagnosis – Missed diagnoses occur when a physician fails to correctly diagnose medical conditions, even though the patient presented with the symptoms and/or had test results that would lead reasonable primary care doctors to diagnose a serious illness. For instance, if a patient comes into the emergency room with chest pain and sudden shortness of breath, but the doctor assigned to the case fails to order a chest x-ray or CT scan to properly diagnose a pulmonary embolism. Instead, the doctor doesn’t find anything wrong and sends the patient home with a potentially fatal health condition.
• Delayed diagnosis – A delayed diagnosis happens when the patient isn’t given a proper diagnosis for their medical condition right away. Perhaps the doctor ordered the appropriate tests and will eventually give the patient the correct diagnosis. However, for some reason, the patient doesn’t get the results right away. This commonly occurs when doctors order lab tests and then do not read them right away. The blood test might show signs to diagnose cancer, but the doctor doesn’t let the patient know and the cancer has time to spread.
• Incorrect diagnosis – Incorrect diagnoses are a type of diagnostic error that occurs when a doctor fails to land on the correct diagnosis, given the patient’s symptoms. The patient may even receive medical treatment for a medical condition they don’t actually have.
• Stroke misdiagnosis – A doctor’s failure to recognize the early signs of a stroke can lead to serious brain damage or wrongful death. As strokes are incredibly common, all doctors should have the ability to accurately diagnose them.
• Cancer misdiagnosis – Unfortunately, doctors misdiagnose cancer frequently, which is incredibly problematic as cancers often spread rapidly.

How to Know If You Can Sue for Misdiagnosis

Illinois requires medical malpractice cases to meet certain criteria to move forward. First, you need to be able to prove a doctor-patient relationship existed so that the medical provider owed you a duty of care. Then, you must show how they breached this duty and caused your damages.

In addition to these criteria, your lawyer must also secure an Affidavit of Merit from another healthcare professional that verifies your medical provider’s actions were different from those recommended by the standard of care. With this information in hand, your Chicago medical malpractice lawyer can guide you through the process of determining whether or not you have a case.

Is There a Difference Between Failed, Incorrect, and Delayed Diagnosis?

There is a difference between a failed diagnosis, an incorrect diagnosis, and a delayed diagnosis.

In a failure-to-diagnose case, the doctor fails to diagnose a condition that would be obvious or found by other medical providers. For example, a patient goes to the emergency room with signs of a stroke and a doctor fails to identify that the patient is having a stroke and sends them home.

With incorrect diagnoses, a doctor fails to give the correct diagnosis and gives the patient a wrong diagnosis. In this type of diagnosis, the patient may even start to undergo treatment they didn’t need or that could harm them based on this false information.

With a delayed diagnosis, the patient doesn’t get a timely diagnosis, usually due to the doctor’s negligence. Sometimes busy doctors fail to read the test results they ordered quickly and key information about a patient’s condition is left sitting in their inbox.

How Long Do I Have to File a Medical Misdiagnosis Lawsuit in Illinois?

The statute of limitations for personal injury claims in the state of Illinois is two years from the date of injury. You will not be able to file any personal injury claim after this date. Your Chicago wrong diagnosis lawyer can clarify how the state’s statute of limitations applies in your specific case.

It is always better to start the process of filing a medical malpractice lawsuit as early as possible, as this will give your medical malpractice attorneys more time to build your case. Plus, certain types of evidence, such as witness testimony, can be much more difficult to obtain the more time that goes by.

What Evidence Can Be Used to Prove Misdiagnosis?

To win your medical malpractice claim, you will need to build a strong medical malpractice lawsuit based on evidence. Fortunately, your Chicago misdiagnosis attorneys will help you build a case that shows how a medical professional caused you serious harm.

Your experienced malpractice attorney will start by requesting the patient’s medical records from before the misdiagnosis, during the diagnosis, and afterward. They may also consult with medical experts to establish what reasonable medical professionals would have diagnosed given the test results and symptoms.

Who Is Found Liable in Medical Misdiagnosis Cases?

There are different medical professionals that can be found liable in medical malpractice cases, depending on the circumstances. Your Chicago medical diagnosis lawyer can help you determine who to file your lawsuit against. Some common parties that can be held liable in a medical misdiagnosis case are:

• Doctors
• Specialists
• Administrators
• Nurses
• Nursing assistants
• Hospitals
• Labs
• Emergency rooms

How Much Is My Misdiagnosis Case Worth?

There are no damage caps under Illinois law for medical malpractice cases. The average medical malpractice settlement is just under $500,000. However, there are some cases that have settled for as much as $8 million.

Your Chicago failure to diagnose attorney can evaluate your particular case and give you a better idea of what your case could be worth based on past cases and your losses.

Contact a Chicago Misdiagnosis Lawyer Today!

Our Chicago wrong diagnosis lawyers work on a contingency fee basis. This means we don’t charge you anything upfront or out-of-pocket for help from our attorneys. Instead, we deduct a small portion of the settlement or award we are able to recover. If our Chicago medical misdiagnosis lawyers aren’t able to help you recover a settlement, you do not have to pay anything for our services.

Contact a Chicago misdiagnosis attorney at Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers for a free consultation with our law office by filling out our contact form or calling toll-free at (888) 424-5757 today. Our Chicago misdiagnosis law firm is available 24/7 to help you get started.

Medical Misdiagnosis Lawsuit FAQ

How Do I Sue a Doctor for Misdiagnosis in Illinois?

In Illinois, you can sue a doctor for any medical mistakes that cause you an injury, including misdiagnosis. During your free consultation with a Chicago medical misdiagnosis lawyer, you can discuss the specifics of your case to see if it meets the criteria for medical malpractice cases in the state.

Can You Sue a Lab for Misdiagnosis?

If a lab mishandles your medical tests and misdiagnosis occurs as a result of the incorrect test results or if the misdiagnosis delays your getting proper treatment, you can sue the lab for misdiagnosis.

For instance, if a lab accidentally switches the blood tests of two different patients and causes a delay in diagnosing cancer in a timely manner, the lab could be sued for the harm the delay created.

Can You Dispute a Diagnosis?

When it comes to your health, you must be your own biggest advocate. If you disagree with a diagnosis your doctor gave you, you can seek a second, third, or fourth opinion if necessary. If your doctor added the wrong diagnosis to your medical charts, you can request in writing for it to be removed.

Your doctor may refuse to remove the incorrect information, but your request and their refusal will remain in your chart should you ever need it.

However, it is important to remember you may not always be able to realize you received the wrong diagnosis on your own, especially right away. Most patients have never attended medical school and do not practice medicine. If it took time to realize that diagnostic errors occurred, this is not your fault.

Should I Settle My Misdiagnosis Claim With Insurance?

Medical malpractice insurance companies are known for offering low settlements to patients to settle quickly for less than a case is worth. These companies have a vested interest in spending the least amount possible for personal injury and medical malpractice cases to improve their bottom line.

By hiring a Chicago wrong diagnosis attorney to negotiate your settlement, whether with the insurance company directly or in court, you can increase your chances of receiving a fair settlement.

Specific Cases We Handle

• Chicago Medication Error Lawyer
• Chicago Stroke Misdiagnosis Lawyer
• Chicago Surgical Error Lawyer
• Chicago Anesthesia Error Lawyer
• Botched Circumcision Lawsuit

Our downtown office, near the Richard J. Daley Center, Dirkson United States Courthouse, and the Chicago Workers’ Compensation Commission, offers convenient access from Aurora, Joliet, and Waukegan via I-90, I-94, and I-290.

Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers

225 W Wacker Dr #1660
Chicago, IL 60606
Phone: (847) 835-8895
Toll Free: (888) 424-5757

We also serve clients from Chicago, Elgin, Schaumburg, Rockford and throughout Illinois.

All content undergoes thorough legal review by experienced attorneys, including Jonathan Rosenfeld. With 25 years of experience in personal injury law and over 100 years of combined legal expertise within our team, we ensure that every article is legally accurate, compliant, and reflects current legal standards.