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Medical misdiagnosis is one of the biggest causes of preventable harm in healthcare, but unfortunately, it’s also one of the most common. If you have suffered a cancer misdiagnosis, let our West Palm Beach cancer misdiagnosis lawyers help you get justice and compensation.
Cancer misdiagnoses are particularly severe and can cause irreparable injury or even death. For example, failure to detect cancer early causes unnecessary suffering and increases the chances of death. When healthcare professionals negligently miss an opportunity to discover cancer early, you can file a medical malpractice claim against them.
Even an erroneous cancer diagnosis isn’t always a good thing. In addition to the severe mental anguish it causes, cancer treatments like chemotherapy given erroneously can permanently harm the patient. If you or a loved one suffered a cancer misdiagnosis, talk to cancer malpractice attorneys in West Palm Beach, FL, today, and let’s help you find justice.
Cancer diagnosis relies on the knowledge, skill, experience, and care of healthcare providers. For instance, pathologists can misinterpret test results and lead to an erroneous diagnosis if they aren’t properly trained, or if they’re negligent.
To prove that the cancer diagnosis was the result of medical negligence, there must be evidence that the doctor failed to identify the disease despite symptoms or test results that were reasonably apparent. In other words, a similar doctor would be reasonably expected to have made the diagnosis.
Signs of negligence leading to cancer misdiagnosis may include the following:
When such negligence leads to a cancer misdiagnosis and causes the patient pain and suffering, the case can rise to the level of medical malpractice. A malpractice claim can be brought against physicians, laboratory analysts, pathologists, pharmacists, and hospital administrators.
You must follow the required legal process to file a cancer misdiagnosis malpractice lawsuit in Florida. First, you must notify all defendants of your intent to file a lawsuit through certified mail with a return receipt requested.
This notice of intent must include a list of all healthcare providers who treated you two years before the alleged malpractice and after the misdiagnosis. Include all relevant medical records a written opinion from a medical expert affirming that reasonable grounds exist to believe that the misdiagnosis does amount to medical malpractice.
Once this is done, the defendants are required to respond to the notice of intent within 90 days. The defendants and their insurance company will take this time to investigate the claims and determine if there is evidence of malpractice. This can be done through an internal or independent external review.
Once completed, the defendants can offer to settle, engage in arbitration, or reject the claim outright. This is where having experienced and skilled West Palm Beach medical malpractice lawyers fighting for you can help you get the best settlement terms.
Even though your claim may not become a court trial, you still need strong evidence to support your claim of medical malpractice. This can be difficult because the required proof is to show that a similar doctor in similar circumstances would reasonably make a correct diagnosis.
This requires medical and legal expertise to allow your attorney to review medical documents, diagnostic protocols, and treatment procedures that may amount to negligence. Often, a medical expert is required to interpret complex medical data and test results to determine what went wrong.
The defense can also raise strong arguments, such as saying the patient failed to do everything the doctor asked. They can also claim that the defendants just made a genuine mistake and that a doctor in similar circumstances couldn’t have made the right diagnosis.
After suffering an extremely traumatizing cancer misdiagnosis, some people may be tempted to just let things slide. However, that’s a mistake that can allow negligent or incompetent healthcare professionals to continue doing the same thing.
When you work with our expert West Palm Beach cancer misdiagnosis lawyers, we’ll do most of the work. That includes filing the paperwork, collecting evidence, negotiating with the defendants, and handling all relevant communications.
We’ll help you file a strong claim or lawsuit that could win you the settlement money you need to pay medical bills, take care of your family, and get all the help you need.
Compensation in medical malpractice cases can fall into two categories: economic and noneconomic damages. Economic damages are awarded for financial losses that have a specific monetary value, such as medical bills, funeral expenses, and lost income.
Noneconomic compensation covers damages without a specific dollar value, such as pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and loss of consortium from the death of a loved one.
Cancer is one of the most commonly misdiagnosed diseases. That’s particularly true for colorectal cancer, breast cancer, melanoma, lymphoma, and lung cancer. It can be hard to prove that a misdiagnosis amounts to negligence, which is why it's vital to have the best cancer malpractice attorneys in West Palm Beach, FL.
At Rafferty Domnick Cunningham & Yaffa, our lawyers are experienced in litigating medical malpractice cases in West Palm Beach and throughout Florida. Our expertise can help you file a winning lawsuit. Talk to us today and we’ll review your case for free, no strings attached.
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