Home Connecticut Personal Injury Lawyer Connecticut Medical Malpractice Lawyer Failure to Diagnose Cancer Lawsuits
Out of all medical malpractice claims, delayed diagnoses surface the most frequently. According to the American Cancer Society, early detection increases a patient’s survival, makes the condition easier to treat, and is considered the next best thing to prevention. With cancer, as well as other similar fatal conditions, delayed or incorrect diagnosis puts a patient at a serious risk, including increasing chances of death. In fact, just a three-month delay results in a higher mortality rate.
Our Case Results
Settlement during trial, after extensive discovery and litigation. Client developed cerebral palsy as a result of medical negligence which caused a lack of oxygen to the brain.
Child suffered severe injury at birth, due to medical error, resulting in permanent damage.
Client’s husband’s death was caused by a misdiagnosis made by an emergency room doctor. This doctor failed to follow proper standards of care.
Plaintiff was misdiagnosed and improperly treated during emergency room visit. This lack of proper medical care resulted in death.
Plaintiff died as a result of an experimental procedure to remove gallstones.
Failure to Diagnose, Misdiagnosis, or Delayed Diagnosis?
Several instances lead to an incorrect or delayed diagnosis: doctors or technicians misreading tests and X-rays, losing results, or performing incorrect tests. These, as well as others, lead to diagnosing the patient with another condition or no treatment at all. Rates of delayed or incorrect diagnosis tend to be higher for breast, colorectal, lung, testicular, prostate, and cervical cancers.
However, in a malpractice case, these three instances are not the same. Instead, the differences are:
Wrong Diagnosis: Because of tests or incorrectly examining symptoms, a doctor selects a wrong illness and administers incorrect treatment. In emergency settings, instances tend to be higher, especially for common conditions and illnesses.
Missed Diagnosis: A doctor tells a patient he or she is healthy when, in fact, a disease continues to progress. In this group of instances, a doctor may fail to investigate or order tests for unusual skin growths or lumps; to detect an elevated PSA; to interpret imaging studies; or to analyze tissue cells that indicate cancerous growth.
Delayed Diagnosis: The doctor makes a correct diagnosis but gives it – and starts administering treatment – significantly later. The disease may have progressed to a point that more aggressive, and thus more expensive, treatment is required.
Failure to Recognize Complications: Although a doctor may have given the patient a correct diagnosis, he or she does not correctly identify complications or other factors that could aggravate the condition.
Failure to Diagnose a Related Disease: The doctor correctly diagnoses one disease but not a related disease or condition that frequently goes hand-in-hand with the primary condition.
Failure to Diagnose an Unrelated Disease: While the doctor correctly diagnoses the primary condition, an unrelated second condition is not correctly identified.
Filing a Medical Malpractice Claim
However, those afflicted with the ramifications of a delayed or wrong cancer diagnosis need to realize that hospitals do not hold doctors responsible for all diagnostic errors. Instead, patients need to prove the following occurred as the result of such a scenario:
- A doctor-patient relationship existed
- The doctor had been negligent
- The negligence resulted in injury to the patient.
“Negligence,” in this case, composes a wide range of instances:
- The doctor did not act competently. The patient and malpractice lawyer, as a result, must show another doctor under similar circumstances would have arrived at the correct conclusion.
- The doctor did not include the correct diagnosis in his or her list of differential diagnoses, or included it but not perform sufficient tests or did not get opinions from specialists to come to the correct conclusion.
- Diagnostic test errors stemming from faulty, contaminated, or mixed up equipment, inaccurate procedures, or incorrectly-read results.
- Primary physicians made referrals based on insurance carriers rather than the patient’s health.
Patients finding out they received improper treatment or had been told they were healthy, while a fatal condition continued to progress, experience stress, anxiety, and financial losses, face a greater chance of mortality, and may go through complex late-stage cancer treatments. If you or a family member received a wrong or delayed cancer diagnosis and are now handling the aftermath of uncertainty and higher financial costs, bring your claim to Trantolo & Trantolo’s experienced medical malpractice attorneys.
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I had the very best experience with Blake and Brandee. Never left me in the dark and made sure I was up to date on everything. This is the quickest settlement I’ve ever received, and it came in my time of need!! Thank you Trantolo...
I had the very best experience with Blake and Brandee. Never left me in the dark and made sure I was up to date on everything. This is the quickest settlement I’ve ever received, and it came in my time of need!! Thank you Trantolo and Trantolo, definitely won’t look anywhere else if I ever need a personal injury lawyer again.
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Attorney Sandillo and Mackenzie have been amazing helping me through a bad car accident. They have walked me through every step of the way and always respond quickly when I need assistance. I would recommend them for anyone that needs any personal injury assistance!
Attorney Sandillo and Mackenzie have been amazing helping me through a bad car accident. They have walked me through every step of the way and always respond quickly when I need assistance. I would recommend them for anyone that needs any personal injury assistance!
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Trantolo & Trantolo handled my case in a very professional way. While Chris Cramer helped me weed through the legalities of my personal injury case, they also kept me up to date as to the updates of how my case was going. I would recommend...
Trantolo & Trantolo handled my case in a very professional way. While Chris Cramer helped me weed through the legalities of my personal injury case, they also kept me up to date as to the updates of how my case was going. I would recommend Trantolo & Trantolo to anyone who is in need of a personal injury lawyer. They are not only professional but very knowledgeable in personal injury law.
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I recommend T&T to anyone in need of a personal injury lawyer. Attorney Rob Peragine and Ana were wonderful in every way and really helped me with my injury case. Rob was very knowledgeable and experienced. I am very pleased with how everything was handled....
I recommend T&T to anyone in need of a personal injury lawyer. Attorney Rob Peragine and Ana were wonderful in every way and really helped me with my injury case. Rob was very knowledgeable and experienced. I am very pleased with how everything was handled. Thank you!
F.M. from Bridgeport, CT
Attorney Albert Carocci was without question the best attorney I could have selected for my personal injury case. He was professional, knowledgeable, patient and spot on with his advice to me. Both he and his paralegal Tricia checked in on me on a regular basis...
Attorney Albert Carocci was without question the best attorney I could have selected for my personal injury case. He was professional, knowledgeable, patient and spot on with his advice to me. Both he and his paralegal Tricia checked in on me on a regular basis and took all my calls and texts. I found it amazing that he gave me his cell phone and responded to me whenever a question popped up. Trantolo & Trantolo has top notch, experienced trial attorneys who don’t back down from a good fight. Call Albert and the lawyers at T&T if you are ever in need of compassionate people who actually care!!!
M.P. from East Haven, CT
Happy to have worked with Trantolo & Trantolo I highly recommend Blake for personal injury cases. With their extensive experience, dedication to clients, and proven track record of success, they are an exceptional choice for anyone seeking skilled representation in personal injury matters. Brandee was...
Happy to have worked with Trantolo & Trantolo I highly recommend Blake for personal injury cases. With their extensive experience, dedication to clients, and proven track record of success, they are an exceptional choice for anyone seeking skilled representation in personal injury matters. Brandee was very helpful and kept constant contact so communication was never lost. Very pleased with the final result!
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