You may have been suffering with symptoms for a number of years. The possibility of not knowing what is causing your pain all of this time has got to be very stressful for you. So, you go to the doctor and are finally diagnosed with having something but a second opinion says you were misdiagnosed. Why is this happening? What can you do?
What you can do about a misdiagnosis
When it comes to patients being misdiagnosed, you are not alone. There are more than 12 million people misdiagnosed, not being diagnosed at all or have a delay in their diagnosis in the U.S. each year. Your doctor could say that you have cancer but it turns out you do not. It could be that you were misdiagnosed because your doctor did not run the proper tests that you needed or did not send you to the proper specialist. It happens every day. You do have options when it comes to holding someone accountable for your medical mistakes. You can bring a lawsuit against your physician for medical malpractice. However, there are certain things you need to prove that say your doctor was indeed negligent in his care. They include:
- Every doctor has a “duty of care” that they live by. That standard of care is violated if you do not receive the care that you deserve and are harmed or injured in any way from it.
- You must prove damages- you must show that the injury you sustained resulted in your loss of income, pain, suffering and hardship, disability and extensive medical bills.
- Your injury was caused by negligence from your physician- you must prove that your doctor’s negligence did indeed cause you harm.
Proving a case for a misdiagnosis can take some time but may be worth it. You will need witnesses who can offer expert testimony. If you are a victim if a misdiagnosis, it is good to know what options you have in possibly holding your doctor accountable.