Medical Misdiagnosis

Effects of Medical Misdiagnosis

Problems caused by medical misdiagnosis include:

• Taking unsuitable or unnecessary medicines
• Having unnecessary medical procedures
• Delay in diagnosing the real illness
• Not taking the steps necessary to improve a condition
• Stress from worry about something you actually did not have
• Death or other serious health implications
• Suffering side-effects from drugs which were not needed
• Worry for the partners, friends and family of the patient
• Unnecessary progression of the underlying illness while it remains untreated

Sadly, medical misdiagnosis is all too common for a number of reasons, but that does not make life any easier for you or those around you when it happens to you. Some newspapers are calling this the “misdiagnosis crisis” – but you don’t have to suffer in silence.

An unbelievable 42% of medical patients feel that they have experienced a medical error, according to the National Patient Safety Foundation.

When you can claim for Medical Misdiagnosis

Whether an X-ray was read wrongly, test results were not responded to quickly or properly or any number of the other types of medical misdiagnosis, you should claim for compensation if you have been harmed.

It can sometimes feel a daunting task when you are ill, or have been misdiagnosed with an illness, to make a claim for compensation when the health industry has not provided the service that you would rightly expect. However the claim that you make could provide you the ability to get better health care, to cope mentally with the stress and worry caused by the misdiagnosis, and generally to help you to carry on with your life.

In the first instance, you should follow this medical misdiagnosis claims procedure:

• Contact a personal injury lawyer as soon as you become aware of the misdiagnosis
• Keep/make as good a record of the history of your case as possible
• Retain any documents or medicine boxes that you were given as these may help to prove negligence.

Many claims fail because it is difficult to prove whether any delay on YOUR behalf made any difference to the outcome. They are often complicated by the issues relating to medicines given or not taken, and because many things can be argued over, it is vitally important you follow the advice above so that you maximise the chances of winning your claim.

Remember that you can even claim if you are the relative of someone who has been fatally misdiagnosed, and with a no win no fee or legal aid claim you won’t be out of pocket either.

So, if you or someone you love has been misdiagnosed for breast cancer, lung cancer, prostate cancer, ovarian cancer, cervical cancer, testicular cancer, tuberculosis, diabetes, a pulmonary embolism, meningitis, appendicitis or any of the other conditions regularly misdiagnosed by health professionals, you should contact your personal injury lawyer as soon as possible and get the compensation that you are owed.