Going to the doctor requires trust in the care you receive. But sometimes, a doctor can misdiagnose a condition, affecting your ability to get the proper care right away.
A cancer misdiagnosis can hurt more than most, decreasing your opportunity for potentially life-saving care. A Watertown breast cancer misdiagnosis lawyer at D’Amico & Pettinicchi, LLC, can help bring a lawsuit against a doctor who gave you or a loved one a misdiagnosis.
There are a few different types of misdiagnosis: wrong diagnosis, missed diagnosis, and delayed diagnosis. Any type can lead to further health issues, more doctor’s visits, and even death if a serious issue is misdiagnosed at first.
A misdiagnosis can take away treatment options and reduce the chances of recovery, especially for aggressive conditions such as breast cancer. With a misdiagnosis, cancer can spread throughout the body and cause more damage than if caught initially. A delay in diagnosing breast cancer can require more aggressive treatment than in earlier stages, costing more money and further diminishing your health.
How a misdiagnosis can come about varies with the situation. A doctor can simply provide incompetent care or miss something while treating a patient. In the realm of cancer care, a doctor might mistake symptoms of breast cancer for a less dangerous condition or skip screening tests. A doctor could also misread or misinterpret test results, and a test could deliver false results because of inadequate procedures or faulty equipment.
However, if a breast cancer misdiagnosis happens, it can delay crucial medical care and cost you severely. After experiencing a breast cancer misdiagnosis, you should contact a Watertown lawyer to pursue a malpractice claim against the doctor responsible.
Our Watertown breast cancer misdiagnosis attorneys bring many years of experience and a drive to get significant results for our clients. For a breast cancer misdiagnosis, you would bring a medical malpractice claim against the misdiagnosing doctor, which is a form of negligence.
Negligence is the legal concept that one person can cause injury to another through unreasonable action or a lack of precaution, rather than an intentional act. So, a doctor missing signs of breast cancer or conducting a faulty test would be unintentional but still responsible for harmful effects to the patient.
For negligence cases, generally, you have to prove four elements: duty of care, breach of duty, causation, and damages. But medical malpractice claims can look different from a standard negligence case, like a slip and fall accident or a car crash.
The duty of care usually entails reasonable action in the given situation, but it means something more specific for medical care—providing care in line with the standard of care in the medical community. So, a breach of that duty would be providing care below the level that a similarly trained doctor would have provided. Causation requires showing that the breach led to the injuries, expressed as legal damages—higher medical costs because of a misdiagnosis, for example, or more pain and suffering as a result.
Showing the duty of care that a doctor should have met when diagnosing cancer takes expertise. You will need a medical expert to provide evidence before or during trial, a process with which one of our attorneys can help.
Importantly, Connecticut bars medical malpractice claims more than two-to-three years after a misdiagnosis. Connecticut General Statutes § 52-584 requires filing of a malpractice lawsuit within two years of an injury or when it was discovered—such as a delayed diagnosis or realization that a misdiagnosis occurred earlier—but no later than three years after the initial mistake. There are exceptions to these timeframes so enlisting the help of a Watertown lawyer familiar with breast cancer misdiagnosis cases as soon as possible can preserve your ability to file suit and hold a doctor responsible within the legal timeframe.
A breast cancer diagnosis already takes a toll on a patient and their family, and dealing with a misdiagnosis only makes the road to recovery harder. With our attorneys by your side for support and counsel, you can hold a doctor responsible for a misdiagnosis and receive compensation for what you have suffered.
When looking for a Watertown breast cancer misdiagnosis lawyer, call one of our attorneys at D’Amico & Pettinicchi. With a free, no-obligation consultation that we can host remotely or in person, we can walk through your case and explain the steps to see if you can pursue a malpractice claim.
