Delray Beach Incorrect Diagnosis Lawyer
We trust our doctors with everything that goes wrong with our bodies. However, doctors are humans, just like the rest of us, and sometimes mistakes are made. Sometimes, these mistakes cannot be compensated – but sometimes, they can. If you have been injured by an incorrect diagnosis, to the point where you have suffered tangible harm, you may be able to seek compensation for what you have gone through.Leifer & Ramirez handles these types of cases, and our dedicated Delray Beach incorrect diagnosis lawyers are here to help you.
More Common Than You Think
Misdiagnosis is extremely common because it can occur in any discipline, as one might imagine. The most common misdiagnoses are for relatively insignificant conditions, but enough of them are reported in diagnosing conditions like cancer for it to be a significant issue. And while one might expect the odd error in diagnosis or the occasional late identification of symptoms, U.S. medical care leads to the deaths of many more people than once thought – the landmark To Err Is Human report once placed medical deaths in U.S. hospitals at as many as 98,000 per year.
Studies have shown that the majority of people in the United States will receive an incorrect or or late diagnosis at least once in their lifetime. However, this does not mean necessarily that all medical care is somehow substandard. A distinction must be made between mere error and outright negligence, because one does not necessarily follow the other. The key word in such cases is negligence – if you can show that the misdiagnosis rises to the level of negligence, you may have a case under Florida law.
The Standard of Care
In order to prove that your medical professional committed negligence when they misdiagnosed you, you must be able to prove that they deviated from the general standard of medical care. In Florida, the standard of medical care is defined as being the same level of “care, skill, and treatment” which is deemed appropriate by “reasonably prudent” health care providers in similar or identical circumstances. In other words, the question to be asked is whether the actions of the doctor or medical professional are the same ones that any other medical professional in the same situation would have performed.
Even if you are able to show a breach of the standard of care, you must also show that you suffered some tangible harm because of it. It may sound self-evident, but just because the standard of care was breached does not mean that anyone was injured by the breach. Florida law requires that an affidavit be submitted to the court attesting to the validity of a medical malpractice claim before it can be mounted, which can be frustrating and time-consuming, but it does give an opportunity to ensure that your information is all available to be presented.
Contact An Experienced Incorrect Diagnosis Lawyer
If it can be shown that a doctor has acted negligently, it can give rise to a claim for medical malpractice. However, in order to ensure that all the details are understood and the claim is as solid as can be, it is a good idea to contact a knowledgeable attorney who handles these types of cases. Leifer & Ramirez handles these types of cases routinely, and our dedicated Delray Beach incorrect diagnosis lawyers are happy to sit down with you and try to answer your questions. Call us today at 561-660-9421 for a free consultation.
