Misdiagnosis or Failure to Diagnose

Utah Misdiagnosis Attorney

A misdiagnosis attorney Utah clients recommend understands that diagnosing an illness is an art, but it’s an art based on taking a complete medical history, ordering the right tests, and carefully observing the patient. By following established medical best practices, doctors increase the likelihood that they will be able to diagnose a medical condition correctly. 

While the chance of medical misdiagnosis is never completely avoidable, following standard procedures greatly reduces the chance of error. Sadly, every year people in Utah find that their medical condition has worsened because a doctor, radiologist, or testing specialist failed to follow through. 

If you were injured, or a loved one died prematurely because of a misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis… you may be able to seek compensation. For more than 20 years, the injury attorneys at Rasmussen & Miner have been helping people get compensation for injuries suffered because of medical negligence. Contact us to speak with an experienced misdiagnosis attorney in Utah.

Justice for your family may save lives. When a medical misdiagnosis or delay in treatment has caused the death of a patient, family members need to know if their loss could have been avoided. Investigating a medical malpractice case can uncover problems with hospital procedures that contribute to medical errors and unnecessary deaths. This can lead to hospitals and medical personnel changing the way they operate, saving lives in the future.

Why You Need an Experienced Legal Advocate

Problems with medical diagnoses are among the most difficult of all malpractice cases to prove. You will want to work with an attorney who has many years of experience and a good understanding of medical issues. Examples of cases we’ve handled at Rasmussen & Miner include:

• Failing to diagnose an electrolyte imbalance, leading to heart failure
• Failing to diagnose cancer so that a breast lump could be removed with a lumpectomy, rather than a full mastectomy after the cancer had grown
• Misdiagnosing cellulitis and failing to order appropriate tests leading to a leg amputation
• Misdiagnosing the signs of a heart attack, failing to order an ECG and failing to test for cardiac enzymes, leading to death

This is not just a court case for you, it’s your family’s future. The attorneys at Rasmussen & Miner are here to protect your rights. Call or email our Salt Lake City law office to schedule a free consultation.

Cancer Misdiagnosis

Ask any patient who has ever heard the words from their doctor’s mouth, and they will likely attest to just how terrifying a cancer diagnosis is. However, while later on finding out that diagnosis was incorrect may bring relief to the patient, the significant emotional and mental anguish that misdiagnosis caused may actually be legally deemed as medical malpractice. If you have found yourself in this situation, contact Rasmussen & Miner to speak with a Utah misdiagnosis attorney.

Statistics and Facts

Tragically misdiagnosis is becoming more and more common in this country’s medical system. According to national data, one in five cancer diagnosis are actually misdiagnosed. This includes both the patient whose cancer is not detected by their doctor and those who are told they have cancer but actually do not. Both of these situations can cause irreversible harm to the patient.

A patient who has undiagnosed cancer has no idea that cancer is spreading throughout their body. Once the cancer finally is diagnosed, it is often too late to treat the condition and go into remission, often cutting the patient’s life short.

A patient who has been told they have cancer but actually do not may undergo aggressive treatments, such as radiation and chemotherapy, which can cause physical harm, never mind the mental anguish of thinking they are facing the end of their life.

Standard of Care

When a jury decided if a medical professional is guilty of medical malpractice, the question that must be answered is whether or not the standard of care the patient had been breached. The standard duty of care is the diagnosis and treatment as another doctor with similar education, training, and experience would have provided the patient. In other words, would another doctor have made the same misdiagnosis of cancer as the victim’s doctor did? That is the question of standard of care.

The patient must also have suffered some kind of harm from that standard of care breach. This can often be difficult and take the expertise of a skilled and seasoned Utah misdiagnosis attorney. There are many issues that came come between being misdiagnosed and the harm the patient suffered. For example, if the patient ends up developing cancer separate from the doctor’s misdiagnosis and that dies from that cancer, the role the misdiagnosis played must be proven in order to be successful in the medical malpractice lawsuit.

Cases, where a patient was diagnosed with cancer but never developed the disease, are easier to prove because of all the harm the not-needed cancer treatments can wreak on the patient’s health, in addition to the emotional anguish of thinking they had cancer and could be dying when there was no cancer at all.

For Experienced Legal Assistance

If you have suffered physical and/or emotional harm because of a doctor’s misdiagnosis, contact Rasmussen & Miner to find out what legal recourse you may have against those responsible. We will schedule a free and confidential consultation with a Utah misdiagnosis attorney. Call our office today.