Did a doctor in Atlanta, GA fail to accurately diagnose your medical condition? You may have a valid medical malpractice lawsuit. You could be entitled to seek compensation for medical bills, lost wages, pain, suffering, and more. An experienced Atlanta misdiagnosis lawyer at Malone Law can help you fight for every dollar you deserve.
Our lawyers have over 50 years of experience fighting for injured clients like you. Our track record of success includes hundreds of millions of dollars worth of settlements and verdicts.
Unfortunately, patients are the ones who suffer when doctors make mistakes. To learn more about your legal options, call our law offices in Atlanta, Georgia at (770) 390-7550 or contact us online to schedule a free consultation today.
How Can the Medical Malpractice Lawyers at Malone Law Help if I Was Harmed Because of a Doctor’s Misdiagnosis in Atlanta, GA?
When most people visit the doctor, they aren’t completely sure what’s wrong. They expect the doctor to review their symptoms, order proper tests, and diagnose them. Only with a proper diagnosis can the patient receive proper treatment.
Unfortunately, misdiagnosis is a fairly common problem. While misdiagnosis can rise to the level of medical malpractice, it can also be difficult to prove. You deserve an experienced Atlanta medical malpractice lawyer on your team.
Malone Law has been fighting for clients like you since our firm was founded in 1965. Our team has earned an AV-Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell. We’ve also been recognized by Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers in America.
When you hire our legal team, you can expect us to:
- Provide personalized attention and sound legal guidance
- Conduct a comprehensive investigation to identify the nature of the doctor’s mistake
- Gather and analyze all available evidence
- Hire experts to prove your case
- Assess your damages and calculate your case value
- Handle all negotiations with the insurance companies and defense teams on your behalf
Our lawyers have what it takes to force doctors, hospitals, and their insurance companies to take responsibility for their mistakes. If you suspect you were a victim of misdiagnosis, contact our Atlanta medical malpractice attorneys for a free case review today.
What is Misdiagnosis?
Misdiagnosis is a type of medical error that occurs when a doctor fails to diagnose a patient’s medical condition.
There are three primary types of misdiagnosis, including:
- Failure to diagnose, or a missed diagnosis, when the doctor fails to diagnose a medical condition
- Delayed diagnosis, where a doctor fails to diagnose the patient’s condition in the early stages when the patient first seeks medical care
- Wrong diagnosis, where a doctor diagnoses the patient with the wrong medical condition
Cases involving misdiagnosis can also involve situations where a doctor fails to recognize complications or risks that could exacerbate a properly diagnosed condition.
Each type of misdiagnosis can have serious consequences because the patient is not receiving proper treatment and care. Even if the doctor diagnoses the wrong disease, the patient can suffer from receiving treatment for the wrong medical condition.
If you were misdiagnosed, you may have a valid medical malpractice claim against the negligent healthcare provider. To learn more about your options, call Malone Law to schedule a free case evaluation.
How Often Do Doctors Misdiagnose Patients?
Doctors fail to properly diagnose patients more often than any of us would like to believe.
According to a relatively recent study, about 12 million people in the U.S. are impacted by misdiagnosis annually. Somewhere between 40,000 and 80,000 patients die each year due to complications arising because of a misdiagnosis.
Research has also found that inaccurate diagnosis or delayed diagnosis was involved in 34% of all medical malpractice cases where the patient died or was seriously harmed. That same study found that 28% of all medical malpractice cases involve diagnostic errors.
Commonly Misdiagnosed Diseases in Atlanta, GA
Some diseases are misdiagnosed more often than others.
Some of the most commonly misdiagnosed diseases include:
- Cancer, including breast cancer, cervical cancer, prostate cancer, and skin cancer
- Lupus
- Lyme disease
- Heart attack
- Stroke
- Fibromyalgia
- Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Hypothyroidism
- Poisoning
When a patient isn’t properly treated in a timely manner, the consequences can be devastating. If you did not receive the proper care due to a doctor’s mistake, contact our law firm in Atlanta today. We’ll do everything we can to help you get justice.
What Are Some of the Potential Long-Term Consequences of a Doctor’s Misdiagnosis in Atlanta?
The harm caused by misdiagnosis can be extensive. Doctors have a duty to listen carefully to their patients, order proper tests, and properly diagnose diseases.
Failure to diagnose medical conditions can result in serious and life-threatening complications for the patient, including:
- A worsened underlying medical condition
- The need for more extensive treatment protocol
- Blood clots
- Brain damage
- Organ damage
- Paralysis
- Chronic pain
- Hospital-acquired infections
- Pulmonary embolism
- Stroke
- Wrongful death of a loved one
Are you struggling with the consequences of a doctor’s medical mistake? Contact our Atlanta misdiagnosis attorneys to learn about your legal right to seek compensation today.
What Types of Compensation Are Available if I File a Misdiagnosis Lawsuit in Atlanta?
Examples of the types of damages that are available to victims of medical malpractice include:
- Current medical bills
- Future medical expenses made necessary by the misdiagnosis
- Lost wages
- Lost future earning potential
- Physical therapy
- Rehabilitation
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Severe depression
- Reduced life expectancy
- Diminished quality of life
- Physical disfigurement and scarring
- Loss of consortium
At Malone Law, our goal is to recover fair compensation for each and every one of our medical malpractice clients. We’ll do everything possible to help you hold the negligent medical provider accountable for their mistake. Contact our law firm today to learn more.
What Are the Most Common Causes of Misdiagnosis?
Like car accidents, most misdiagnosis cases involve human error. Patients are misdiagnosed or not diagnosed at all when doctors and medical staff are careless.
Some of the most common reasons that patients are misdiagnosed include:
- Failure to order routine diagnostic tests, such as mammograms, pap smears, colonoscopies, and prostate exams
- Reading the test results incorrectly
- Mixups with lab results
- Failure to refer patients to specialists when necessary
- Failure to recognize a patient’s symptoms
- Failure to take a full patient medical history
- Improper collection of samples or contaminated samples
- Inexperienced healthcare providers
- Outdated medical technology
- Defective medical equipment
- Communication and charting errors
Misdiagnosis often occurs because medical facilities are understaffed and doctors are overworked. It also happens when doctors take shortcuts and fail to use the tools and resources at their disposal. In other words, patients are often misdiagnosed because medical providers are negligent.
How Do I Prove I Deserve Compensation if a Doctor Misdiagnosed Me in Georgia?
Doctors and hospitals are not liable for malpractice every time they fail to diagnose a condition. They can only be held liable if they make a mistake that amounts to malpractice.
Medical malpractice is a failure to provide proper care under the circumstances.
To recover compensation based on malpractice, the victim must establish:
- The defendant owed them a legal duty of care
- The medical standard of care the defendant was required to satisfy
- They breached the duty of care by providing substandard care
- The breach of duty caused the patient some type of harm
- The damages incurred as a result
Every medical professional has a legal duty to adhere to the medical standard of care. The medical standard of care is one that is developed by the medical community itself.
That standard is based on things like:
- The patient’s age, life expectancy, and medical history
- The medical condition involved
- The patient’s symptoms and general circumstances
- Geographic location
In the most general terms, medical providers must provide the level of care that a reasonable, trained medical professional would have provided in a similar situation.
Our lawyers in Atlanta will bring in expert witnesses to prove your case. The testimony of medical experts can be used both to establish the medical standard of care and to prove that your doctor made a mistake that amounted to malpractice.
How Long Do I Have to File a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit if I Was Misdiagnosed With a Disease in Georgia?
Under Georgia law, you have two years to file a lawsuit. The two-year statute of limitations starts to run on the date you were misdiagnosed.
However, in cases involving medical negligence, a discovery rule applies. The statute of limitations typically will not begin to run until the date you discovered, or reasonably should have discovered, the doctor’s mistake.
That said, you must file a lawsuit within five years of the date the error occurred–regardless of when you discover the mistake.
Schedule a Free Case Review With an Experienced Atlanta Misdiagnosis Lawyer Today
If you suspect you were misdiagnosed by a doctor or healthcare professional, contact an experienced Atlanta misdiagnosis lawyer at Malone Law today at (770) 390-7550. We can help you determine whether you have a valid lawsuit against a negligent doctor, nurse, or hospital. Your consultation is always free of charge, so don’t hesitate to reach out today.