Misdiagnosis in cancer patients may be more common than you think

by | Oct 24, 2019 | Medical malpractice

Few things are as scary as facing cancer, and you’ll likely have to place your trust in a physician to act in your best interest. But when they misdiagnosis you, things can get downright terrifying.

Misdiagnosis happens to millions of patients every year. If you suspect negligence on the part of your care provider made you a part of this statistic, you may have a case for medical malpractice.

Proving negligence

Successfully mounting a suit requires you to prove several components:

  • Relationship: You generally need to show a professional relationship with your care provider. You hired them, and they agreed to see you.
  • Negligence: You’ll likely need to bring evidence that your acting physician didn’t live up to a reasonable standard that most any competent doctor would have maintained while treating you.
  • Harm: You may have a case if the physician’s negligence was likely the cause of your injury, and that injury could have caused your suffering. Damages can count for things like physical pain from the ongoing sickness or additional bills from your worsened condition.

Missing the mark

You can reasonably expect medical professionals to live up to an acceptable standard of care. There is a range of ways that they may fail to live up to the benchmark required of them:

  • Didn’t recognize early warning signs
  • Weren’t as thorough as necessary in examination
  • Failed to send for appropriate cancer screening
  • Neglected to read lab or test results properly
  • Overlooked your medical history

Make sure you understand what constitutes medical malpractice. Being able to identify where you’ve been let down can go a long way to leaving your fears of a failed recovery behind.