Failure to Diagnose Attorneys in New Jersey

When is a Missed or Delayed Diagnosis Malpractice?

In medical malpractice cases, health care providers can be held liable when they deviate from the standard of care and injure patients as a result.

Determining what standard of care applied to a provider-patient relationship and whether a provider failed to meet those standards can be difficult and will depend on the facts of a case. In general terms, a provider deviates from the standard of care when they fail to act in a manner a reasonably skilled provider in their field would be expected to act under similar to the same circumstances.

When it comes to diagnostic errors, there are many acts of negligence that may entitle victims to a medical malpractice claim. Some examples include:

• Failing to perform an adequate patient evaluation or medical history.
• Failure to order tests based on signs and symptoms.
• Failing to recognize and timely treat a medical emergency, such as an evolving heart attack.
• Misinterpreting lab results or making a benign finding that misses a condition.
• Failure to recognize signs of complications or distress.
• Failures to recognize and treat pregnancy or childbirth complications, resulting in birth injury.

At Levinson Axelrod, P.A., we investigate malpractice claims closely and leverage the insight of an attorney / M.D. and other medical experts to evaluate whether provider’s may be liable for negligence.

Medical Negligence & Testing Errors

With hundreds of different diagnostic tests available for patients, it can be all too easy for doctors or specialists to read these tests incorrectly. In addition, these tests may be performed incorrectly and result in misdiagnosis, causing a patient even more medical complications and issues. Testing errors can even lead to increased injuries or wrongful death.

Testing errors are often the result of human error. Unfortunately, even seemingly minor errors can mean the difference between arriving at an accurate, timely diagnosis and missing out on the opportunity to treat a condition. For some conditions, such as cancer or heart attack, a testing error can mean the difference between life and death.