PRACTICE AREAS

Some delays in diagnosis are excusable, some are not. Some delays cause serious injury or death, some do not. These medical malpractice cases require a great deal of work and research.

If the Doctor follows the standard of care of a reasonably prudent Doctor in working up a patient, there is no malpractice. On the other hand, if delays in diagnosis were caused by the unreasonable failure to perform tests or if the Doctor fails to read the test results, there may well be malpractice. Often, Doctors are too busy to listen to their patients, which can be fatal.

Often, the delay in diagnosis is caused by the failure to refer the patient to a specialist. Unfortunately, some insurance policies reward the doctor for not making referrals, so the doctor saves money by denying care.

These cases involve a two-stage analysis. First, was there an unreasonable delay in diagnosis? Second, what damages, if any, did the delay cause?

We have successfully represented several patients whose physicians have unnecessarily delayed diagnosing and treating their patients, resulting in injury and death.

These cases include delays in diagnosing cancer, heart attacks, stroke, infection, ruptured appendix, bowel obstruction, glaucoma, blood clots in the legs or lungs, fractures, bleeding on the brain, blood poisoning from a variety of causes, and perforated organs including the bowel.