Failure to Diagnose (cancer, heart disease, meningitis)
US, Canada and Puerto Rico
Cases of medical malpractice that occur when a medical professional fails to diagnose a condition can be devastating. As the ability to diagnose diseases continues to improve, a doctor's failure to diagnose an illness becomes more difficult to understand and accept. As a patient, your chance of survival is directly linked to how early your disease is detected. You may be required to undergo extensive and more aggressive treatment if your illness goes unnoticed in its early stages. If you believe a medical professional has failed to diagnose your illness, please contact the medical malpractice lawyers Balkin & Eisbrouch, LLC today.
Three serious diseases that are often failed to be diagnosed are cancer, heart disease and meningitis.
Cancer
Cancer is a group of over 100 different diseases. Cancer develops when your cells become abnormal and keep dividing and forming additional cells uncontrollably. When your cells continue to divide when new cells are unneeded, the excessive tissue creates a tumor.
Some cancers have warning signs, including:
- Change in bowel or bladder habits
- Difficulty swallowing
- Unusual bleeding or discharge
- A thickening or lump part of your body
- Digestion problems
- A persistent cough or hoarseness
One of the only definite ways to detect cancer is with a biopsy, where part of your tissue is removed and examined under a microscope for the presence of cancer cells. Yearly detection tests such as pap smears and colonoscopies can help identify cancer in its early stages. However, if these detection tests are performed incorrectly or misread, cancer can be overlooked.
Heart Disease
Medical professionals may have difficulty diagnosing heart disease in cases where there is no family or prior history of heart disease and the patient is fit enough or young enough that the risk of heart attack is not obvious. In these situations, factors like the effects of recent stress or high cholesterol levels can be easily overlooked.
The following are medical errors that doctors, nurses and emergency room personnel should never make:
- Discharging patients with chest pain
- Failing to read and understand the results of an EKG
- Prescribing medication without considering the impact on your cardiovascular health
Aggressive testing for heart disease, as well as certain treatments, can halt or reverse the conditions that may result in a heart attack.
However, a doctor’s failure to diagnose heart disease and the inability to recognize the risk factors can make even the most advanced therapeutic techniques useless. The result can be a fatal heart attack.
Meningitis
Failure to diagnose meningitis is becoming an increasingly common form of medical malpractice . Caused by a viral or bacterial infection, meningitis may cause brain damage, learning disabilities, hearing loss and even death.
Early diagnosis and identifying a certain type of bacteria that caused the disease is critical, because antibiotics can prohibit meningitis from spreading and infecting others. This condition, however, is often misdiagnosed as a less-serious illness because its early symptoms are often disguised as the flu. Symptoms of meningitis include:
- Headache
- Fever and chills
- Stiff neck and body
- Irritability
- Nausea and vomiting
- Seizures
- Delirium and confusion
- Drowsiness
- Sensitivity to light
- Coma
Unfortunately, many of the fatalities associated with this disease are the result of a diagnosis that is too late.
If a medical professional has failed to diagnose your medical condition, please contact the medical malpractice attorneys at Balkin & Eisbrouch, LLC. Our dedicated lawyers will fight to get you the money to cover your medical expenses and other non-economic damages. We represent clients in the U.S., Puerto Rico and Canada.
