When you seek medical treatment for an illness or pain complaint, you trust that the medical professionals will take care of you and accurately diagnose your condition. Understanding how to prove misdiagnosis can be important if a medical error leads to serious harm.
In most situations, they reach a proper diagnosis. However, there are times when that doesn’t happen. A condition that is complex and hard to diagnose may result in a failure to diagnose.
When a medical professional says you have one disease, but it’s really something else, then it’s a misdiagnosis. Not all medical misdiagnosis claims are necessarily malpractice, though.
Mistakes can happen, and a doctor can’t be right in 100% of the cases they handle. However, some mistakes can lead to a malpractice claim.
To successfully recover compensation for medical misdiagnosis, you need to prove that the provider acted negligently.
Contact the skilled team of New Mexico medical malpractice lawyers at Poulos & Cavazos, LLP, to learn whether you potentially have a malpractice claim.
Key Points
- A misdiagnosis may qualify as medical malpractice: patients must show the provider failed to meet the accepted standard of medical care.
- Doctor-patient relationships matter: proving the provider was actively treating you is a key part of a misdiagnosis claim.
- Expert testimony is often required: medical experts help explain how another qualified doctor would have reached the correct diagnosis.
- Misdiagnosis cases require proof of harm: compensation may depend on showing pain, additional injury, lost wages, or other damages caused by the incorrect diagnosis.
- Common causes include testing and interpretation errors: failure to recognize symptoms, ordering incorrect tests, or misreading results may contribute to a misdiagnosis.
How to Prove a Medical Misdiagnosis Claim in New Mexico
Proving a misdiagnosis claim starts with showing that you had a doctor-patient relationship with the doctor. If you were a regular patient with a scheduled appointment, this element is easy to establish.
If the doctor was someone you met at a social function and discussed your symptoms with, that wouldn’t be enough to establish a doctor-patient relationship.
You need to show the medical provider was competent in the field of medicine for which you were seeking treatment.
For example, it would be tough to make a medical malpractice claim against an orthopedist if the problem was neurological in nature or vice versa.
Next, you need to show the medical provider acted negligently. That means their care fell below the standard of care. You need to prove that another doctor with similar skills and background would have reached a different conclusion from the doctor in question.
Other medical experts may be able to testify as to whether they would have reached the same conclusion based on facts and whether they would have made the correct diagnosis.
Once you establish the doctor’s care fell below the accepted standard of care, you need to show that their negligence caused your injuries. Examples include pain, further injury, physical incapacitation, lost wages, etc.
If the misdiagnosis didn’t cause you any harm and financial loss, then you do not have a misdiagnosis claim.
Common Reasons for Medical Misdiagnosis Claims
A misdiagnosis can happen for numerous reasons:
- Lack of familiarity with an illness or disease;
- Failure to recognize your symptoms;
- Inaccurate interpretation of the test results;
- Ordering the wrong labs, scans, or other tests;
- Failure to perform any additional or alternate diagnostics; or
- Unqualified administration of the tests or reading the results.
Some misdiagnosis and failure to diagnose claims happen in the emergency room due to it being a high-stress and fast-paced environment. Medical professionals experiencing a high volume of patients could be more likely to make a mistake.
Medical misdiagnosis claims aren’t limited to emergency room situations, though. They can happen with your primary doctor or a specialist you are seeing.
Contact a New Mexico Medical Malpractice Lawyer
If you believe you are the victim of a misdiagnosis, speak with an experienced New Mexico medical malpractice lawyer at Poulos & Cavazos.
We specialize in medical malpractice claims and work closely with medical professionals. Let us put our expertise to work for you.
Contact our office today to schedule a consultation and let us show you how to prove a misdiagnosis in New Mexico.
FAQs
What is Considered a Medical Misdiagnosis?
A medical misdiagnosis happens when a healthcare provider incorrectly identifies a patient’s illness, disease, or medical condition. This can include diagnosing the wrong condition or failing to diagnose the correct condition altogether.
How Do You Prove a Misdiagnosis Claim in New Mexico?
To prove a misdiagnosis claim, patients generally need to show a doctor-patient relationship existed, the provider failed to meet the accepted standard of care, and the incorrect diagnosis caused measurable harm or financial loss.
Is Every Medical Misdiagnosis Considered Malpractice?
No. Not every diagnostic mistake qualifies as malpractice. A successful claim usually requires proof that another reasonably competent medical provider would have made the correct diagnosis under similar circumstances.
What Are Common Causes of Medical Misdiagnosis?
Common causes include failure to recognize symptoms, ordering the wrong tests, misinterpreting lab or imaging results, inadequate follow-up testing, or improper administration of diagnostic procedures.
Can Emergency Rooms Be Responsible for Misdiagnosis Claims?
Yes. Emergency rooms are fast-paced and high-stress environments where medical professionals may face heavy patient loads, increasing the risk of diagnostic errors that could lead to malpractice claims.
What Damages Can Be Recovered in a Misdiagnosis Lawsuit?
Patients may recover compensation for medical expenses, lost income, pain and suffering, additional treatment costs, and other damages caused by delayed or incorrect diagnosis.
Victor Poulos, JD
For more than two decades, Victor Poulos has devoted his practice exclusively to representing patients and families harmed by medical negligence. He has handled complex medical malpractice cases involving hospitals, surgeons, anesthesiologists, and other healthcare providers, and has taken hundreds of depositions of physicians, nurses, and hospital staff across nearly every medical specialty. Mr. Poulos has successfully tried high-stakes malpractice cases to verdict and is known for his meticulous case preparation and relentless advocacy on behalf of injured patients.
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