Misdiagnosis or delayed correct diagnosis from a medical practitioner may constitute negligence.
However, misdiagnosis itself not evidence of medical negligence.
In order for a misdiagnosis to be negligent it must result from your
doctor failing to take “reasonable care” in diagnosing a condition. This
requires a professional analysis of what the doctor did and did not do
to arrive at their diagnosis.
When can I claim compensation for a misdiagnosis?
You can claim compensation for a misdiagnosis if the medical
practitioner was negligent. To establish negligence you will need to
prove all of the following points:
1. A medical professional misdiagnosed or delayed in correctly diagnosing your medical condition
A misdiagnosis will only be considered negligent if it falls short of
Australian medical standards. You must be able to show that another
reasonably competent doctor would have been able to correctly diagnose
your illness in the circumstances.
2. You suffered injury or harm
You must have suffered actual injury or harm as a result of the
misdiagnosis. For example, as a result of a misdiagnosis, you may be
subjected to surgery or aggressive or harmful treatment (such as
chemotherapy) which would not have been necessary if the correct
diagnosis had been made earlier.
3. The injury or harm was a direct result of the negligent treatment
You must be able to prove that the negligent misdiagnosis caused your
injury. For example, if your doctor were to misdiagnose your broken leg
as a strained ligament and failed to administer appropriate treatment,
but the next day your leg was crushed completely in a car accident, the
misdiagnosis would not be the cause of your harm.
Proving a
medical negligence claim is a complex process. If you believe a treating
medical professional was negligent and caused you harm, we recommend
that you consult with an experienced personal injury lawyer as soon as
possible.
What are some commonly misdiagnosed conditions?
Among the most commonly misdiagnosed conditions are:
Cancer: misdiagnosed as Irritable Bowel
Syndrome (IBS), Crohn’s disease, peptic ulcer disease, gastritis, other
digestive disorders, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma or
pneumonia
Celiac Disease: misdiagnosed as irritable bowel disease
Heart Attacks: mistaken for indigestion or a panic attack
Asthma: misdiagnosed as bronchitis
Stroke: misdiagnosed as vertigo, migraine or intoxication
Thyroid Conditions: misdiagnosed as depression, fibromyalgia
Lupus: Misdiagnosed as rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome
Parkinson’s: mistaken for a mild stroke, stress or Alzheimer’s
Lyme disease: commonly misdiagnosed as mononucleosis, the flu or depression
Why do doctors commonly misdiagnose medical conditions?
Negligence is not always the cause of a misdiagnosis. Mistakes and
misjudgments typically occur in medical diagnosis because many medical
conditions do not consistently exhibit the same symptoms in every
individual. For example, women are much more likely to be misdiagnosed
with a heart attack as they do not experience hallmark symptoms that
precede a heart attack such as chest pains. Instead, women may
experience discomfort in their neck, jaw, back, shoulder, arm or
stomach, nausea, vomiting or heart burn.
Other medical conditions
only exhibit vague symptoms which overlap with other common conditions
and are therefore commonly misdiagnosed. Limited access to patient
information, medical history or inadequate consultation time with the
patient are also factors that may result in a medical practitioner
failing to arrive at the correct diagnosis.
For these reasons,
doctors are not required to attain an impossible standard of practice
and errors may occur despite reasonable care being taken. Determining
whether negligence is involved is a complex process and legal advice is
recommended.