In the medical field, diagnostic errors are the most common mistakes. This includes failing to diagnose or recognize a patient's condition, diagnosing a patient with the wrong disease, and failing to diagnose a patient's condition promptly. Medicl malpractices constitute all manner of diagnostic errors. In addition to being the most common mistakes in the medical field, diagnostic errors are also common grounds for claims of medical malpractices. If you suffer damages from a missed diagnosis in Florida, you need to consult a personal injury attorney to help you seek compensation. Most of the damages resulting from a missed diagnosis are avoidable if doctors could be more careful. Therefore, if you suffer damages because of a missed diagnosis, you should hold the responsible doctor liable.

Cases Of Missed Diagnosis That Are Regarded As Medical Malpractice In Florida

In Florida, a missed diagnosis can only be medical malpractice if the error reflects a physician's failure to meet the treating standard of care. According to the state's statutes, physicians owe their patients a legal duty to diagnose and treat them per generally accepted medical procedures, knowledge, and practices. Therefore, if another physician would have offered an accurate and timely diagnosis under a similar situation, then a missed diagnosis can generate claims of medical malpractice. Some of the examples of missed diagnoses that amount to medical malpractice include:

Cancer Missed Diagnosis

You could visit your primary health care doctor annually for general health checkups. However, one day it emerges that you are feeling more tired than normal, and you begin having difficulties eating or keeping down food. Since you have never had any serious health problems, you decide to seek the opinion of a different doctor who diagnoses you with stomach cancer stage 3. Unfortunately, your current doctor also reveals that you could have had cancer for several years. In this case, your primary health care doctor's missed diagnosis of your cancer could be regarded as medical malpractice.

Broken Bone Missed Diagnosis

If you happen to fall and injure your wrist, it is crucial that you immediately visit an emergency room (ER) physician in the hospital. At times, the emergency physician could perform an X-ray, and after examining it, he/she concludes that you only have soft tissue damage but not a broken bone. However, several weeks later, you discover that your injured wrist has not improved, and you visit your primary health care physician. Your physician notices a broken bone after reviewing the X-ray and advises you to seek treatment. In this case, the emergency physician’s missed diagnosis will be regarded as medical malpractice.

Pulmonary Embolism Missed Diagnosis

You could visit the hospital after feeling lightheadedness, chest pain, and heart palpitations. After the doctor examines you and sends you to the laboratory for blood testing, the doctor fails to pinpoint a specific diagnosis. The doctor then concludes that you only suffer from heartburn and sends you home, recommending an over-the-counter treatment. After several weeks, you are taken back to the hospital after fainting. After a different doctor examines you, the doctor discovers you have Pulmonary Embolism, which has caused permanent complications because of the former doctor's missed diagnosis. This is another case in that you have a right to allege medical malpractice.

Key Questions To Answer If You Have A Claim For Medical Malpractice Based On A Missed Diagnosis

With the help of your malpractice attorney, you will need to answer some questions to ascertain if you have a claim for medical malpractice based on a missed diagnosis.

Have You Suffered Damages As a Result Of Missed Diagnosis?

You can only pursue a medical malpractice claim if you have damages you are entitled to recover. These could include:

  • Shortened life expectancy

  • Future or current medical expenses

  • Lost income due to inability to work

  • Various other non-financial and financial losses

Could Your Physician Have Diagnosed Your Condition Accurately?

Your physician could be responsible for medical malpractice if he/she had a chance to offer an accurate diagnosis but failed to do so. You could have a claim if your physician had the required information to provide the right diagnosis.

What Is The Statute Of Limitations For a Medical Malpractice Claim?

All medical malpractice claims in Florida have a statute of limitations. Often, the statute of limitation for a medical malpractice claim is within two years of noticing your condition and within four years of the date of your missed diagnosis.

Proving Malpractice For Missed Diagnosis

If your physician missed your diagnosis, you are entitled to a claim once you provide substantial evidence that the physician violated the expected duty of care. You will need to prove the following elements:

  • You had developed a patient-physician relationship with the physician who missed your diagnosis

  • The physician’s missed diagnosis fell below the duty of care expected of minimally competent physicians in the area

  • You suffered injuries, or your condition worsened because of missed diagnosis

  • As a result of missed diagnosis, you suffered calculable damages

For you to prove the above elements, you will need to gather sufficient evidence for your claim to show that the physician’s diagnostic mistake occurred when you were under their care. You will also have to prove that you suffered injuries or harm because of your physician’s missed diagnosis. Finally, you will require to provide copies of your medical records to support your claim, including:

  • Test results

  • Wage statements

  • Nurse’s and physician’s notes

  • Medical bills

  • Lab reports

  • Hospital records

  • Medical results

The law in Florida allows you to obtain copies of your medical records. You can request copies from a medical facility or hospital where you were treated. Your attorney can help you obtain the copies if you have trouble accessing medical copies. Florida law also demands that you file specific certificates of merit when you file a medical malpractice lawsuit. A certificate of merit is evidence that a medical professional has reviewed the evidence and is satisfied that you suffered injuries because of medical malpractice. Therefore, you must retain a medical professional before filing a malpractice claim.

The Difference Between Missed Diagnosis And Misdiagnosis

Usually, missed or delayed diagnosis is also known as failure to diagnose. Missed diagnosis happens when a physician fails to identify a medical condition when presented with it. For instance, you could visit a physician because your heart is inexplicably racing. Assuming you have a panic attack, your physician decides not to do anything, thinking you will overcome the condition. However, if you are experiencing atrial fibrillation, the physician would have missed the diagnosis. On the other hand, if the physician decides to prescribe anti-anxiety treatment to treat a panic attack, then the physician has misdiagnosed you.

If you visit a physician for a medical condition examination, you could expect the physician to run any necessary tests, ask questions, and offer treatment options. Some medical conditions are hard to test for definitively or have similar symptoms. A physician could inquire more from you or consult your medical record to determine why you are experiencing one condition instead of another.

Physicians often employ their experiences or best judgment to ascertain the type of condition. Because of using the wrong process of determining the disease or the complicated nature of the disease, a misdiagnosis could occur. Often, misdiagnosis is dangerous because it leads to unnecessary and ineffective treatments. The effort and time spent treating the wrong illness can always cause the actual disease to get worse.

As much as missed diagnosis and misdiagnosis are different, the result is the same. In both cases, you are not accorded the necessary treatment at the time you require it.

Damages You Can Recover In A Medical Malpractice

Here are the damages you can recover in medical practice lawsuits.

Damages Based On The Death Of The Patient

Most states in the US have statutes that ascertain the damages that can be recovered if medical malpractice causes the death of a patient. These are wrongful death statutes and survival statutes. Wrongful death statutes seek to compensate the deceased's family for their future monetary loss. The calculation is not a simple projection of future salary, but it is more thorough: it considers factors like the deceased’s working habits, savings, and spending.

Compensation for the family's emotional harm or loss of companionship is often not allowed under the wrongful death law. However, several states have embraced the law, permitting that kind of recovery. Depending on the state, not every individual related to the deceased can recover the damages. The people who can seek compensation include spouses and children.

Survival statutes allow the deceased's estate or heirs to recover damages that occurred from initial medical malpractice to the death of the patient. Generally, the damages cover everything permissible in a malpractice lawsuit if the plaintiff had survived, except for compensation associated with the future, like earning capacity. Some survival laws also provide for funeral expenses recovery, although this is often part of the wrongful death statute.

Pain And Suffering

Often, pain and suffering is the largest component of an injured patient's damages in a medical malpractice lawsuit. These are damages caused by a physician but have no exact calculation compared to economic damages. At times, pain and suffering fall under two categories: mental and physical. Mental pain and suffering include:

  • Embarrassment

  • Humiliation

  • Sleep issues

  • Emotional distress

  • Shock

  • Loss of enjoyment of life

  • Anguish

  • Anxiety

  • Most other non-physical manifestations of the physician’s medical malpractice

Physical pain and suffering arise from medical malpractice patients' real physical harm. They are sensory manifestations of the physician’s error, mainly discomfort and pain. Physical pain and suffering could also include disfigurement and scarring. Often, physical and mental effects are intertwined or challenging to differentiate from one another. For instance, individuals suffering from emotional distress could experience the following:

  • Bouts of crying

  • Trouble sleeping

  • Weight fluctuations

  • Sexual dysfunction

  • Lack of energy, and

  • Loss of appetite

There are no guidelines to ascertain the amount of compensation for a patient's malpractice pain and suffering. In the United States, judges in most states often instruct juries to use their experience, good sense, and background to ascertain what would be a reasonable and fair figure. Since the juries have minimum guidance for calculating pain and suffering damages, these compensations vary significantly among patients, even if the extent and nature of injuries are similar.

Sometimes, a ''multiplier'' is used where an insurance company calculates pain and suffering as amounting to a multiple of the plaintiff's economic damages. However, when the juries are in the jury room, they do not use a multiplier to ascertain appropriate damages. Some factors could influence the value of your pain and suffering damages. They include:

  • Whether the physician’s responsibility and your injuries are easy for the jury to understand

  • Whether you are a good or bad witness

  • Whether you have a criminal history

  • Whether you are a credible witness

  • Whether the jury likes you

  • Whether your testimony regarding your injuries was consistent

Loss Of Consortium

A loss of consortium claim is often a standalone lawsuit filed by the injured or deceased patient's family member or spouse. The idea is that the injured patient or the deceased cannot provide their family or spouse with the same love, comfort, sexual relations, or affection they provided before the medical malpractice. Therefore, the family member or spouse is entitled to claim for those losses. Generally, the court cannot award loss of consortium claims unless the injured patient dies or sustains permanent or long-lasting injuries. Loss of consortium is a loss for which money is only a rough substitute.

Punitive Damages

These damages are rare, but the court could award them in egregious cases. Punitive damages seek to punish the physician for their behavior and send a message to similarly situated physicians. These types of damages can be substantial when the court awards them. A jury or judge has discretion in setting punitive damages within certain constitutional restrictions. You only need to prove recklessness, intent, or another mental state that is more than negligence to receive punitive damages.

Medical Bills

The physician who caused your injuries in medical malpractice will have to pay for medical bills incurred up to when you settle or your case goes to trial. The physician should also compensate you for future medical expenses that are expected because of your injuries. The compensation should cover emotional injuries as well as physical injuries.

Transportation to your medical appointments and even adaptive medical devices should be covered as well. When a physician causes you to suffer injuries in medical malpractice, you should not incur out-of-pocket expenses for your treatment. Everything you incur or you will incur in the future must be covered.

Lost Wages

Lost wages equate to the money a plaintiff’s employer pays them for the work done. Employers pay wages weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. When the plaintiff cannot go to work because of injury, the lost wages refer to the amount of money the person would have earned from the time of malpractice injury to the time of settlement or judgment. When you suffer injuries because of a physician's medical malpractice, you could be able to recover compensation, including income that you lost.

Personal injury liability laws in Florida allow you to seek compensation from the physician’s insurance company or directly from them through a claim. To claim lost wages, the plaintiff must attach the document as evidence, including the letter from their employer, doctor's notes, pay stubs, or other wage documents.

State Limitations On Damages

Every State in the United States has laws that set the maximum amount of damages you can recover from medical malpractice. For example, there are states with laws that would prohibit you from recovering more than $500,000. Some other states have laws that only cover general damages like loss of enjoyment of life, pain and suffering, and the psychological impact of scarring or disfigurement.

Generally, general damages are referred to as non-economic damages because they do not have an immediate dollar value. For instance, Florida sets a $250,000 limit on non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases. However, economic damages have no limit, including compensation for diminished future earning capacity, loss of past earnings, and past and future medical care.

Several states have laws that reduce the damages the physician must pay by the amount the injured patient received from sources like insurance. Other states also have laws that limit the money your attorney can charge for a medical malpractice case.

Find A Personal Injury Attorney Near Me

If you suffer injuries in a missed diagnosis medical malpractice, you need a personal injury attorney to prove that diagnostic errors caused your injuries. An attorney who knows medical malpractice cases could be able to find out exactly where the mistake occurred. Often, doctors will argue that your injuries are unrelated to any diagnosis. A competent attorney who works closely with medical professionals can counter these allegations with facts. The missed diagnosis could have occurred anywhere along the chain of care. At the Jacksonville Personal Injury Attorney, we will walk with you and ensure that you receive adequate compensation for your pain and suffering, lost wages, and medical expenses. Call us at 904-800-7557 and talk to one of our attorneys.