Johnson County Medical Misdiagnosis Lawyer

When a person is unsure what ailing them, they go to a doctor, expecting professional and reasonably accurate care. It is the doctor's duty in a patient-doctor relationship to provide non-negligent care. If a doctor's negligence caused harm, a claim for medical malpractice is possible. However, because of the complexity in the field of medicine, it is not always legally expected that the correct diagnosis be reached every time. Rather to be considered malpractice, it needs to be shown that the care given did not rise to the level of how a reasonable doctor in that medical field of practice would have treated it. In other words, did the doctor follow proper and accepted practices. Failure to follow proper and accepted practices can include failing to order the correct tests, mistaken procedures, failing to refer a patient to a specialist, or misinterpreting test results.

Proving negligence in medical malpractice misdiagnosis cases requires 4 elements:

1. Duty of Care: Doctors are required to provide reasonable care for their patient, but a patient that is not under the doctor's care does not require the same reasonable care. However, medical records showing that the doctor treated you could establish the duty owed to you.
2. Breach of Duty: It must be shown that the doctor did not uphold the reasonable care owed to the patient. This can be proven by showing that another doctor in the same or similar field of expertise would not have reasonably taken the same actions.
3. Damages: It must be shown that the patient suffered real damages. Damages can include medical expenses, unnecessary side effects from treating the wrong diagnosis, and injury suffered as the result of the untreated illness.
4. Causation: It must be shown that the misdiagnosis is responsible for causing the damages.

Misdiagnosis is often a common byproduct of failing to include the correct diagnosis. Misdiagnosis can lead to unexpected and unneeded medical expenses not to mention the lost time not treating the correct illness. Hiring an experienced medical malpractice lawyer to represent your case is crucial due to the complexity of securing medical records as well as getting an expert witness to testify on your behalf. Because it must be shown that a doctor in the same or similar field of expertise would have come to the correct diagnosis, getting an expert witness is pivotal in these cases.

If you or someone you know has suffered damages due to a misdiagnosis, please contact us to schedule a consultation.