Suffolk County Medical Misdiagnosis

When a medical professional such as a doctor or a dentist makes an unreasonable miscalculation mistake when caring for a patient and as a result the patient suffers a serious injury, the injured patient has the right to file a particular type of personal injury lawsuit called a medical malpractice lawsuit. One type of common mistake made by medical professionals is a failure to make a correct diagnosis. As experienced Suffolk County medical misdiagnosis lawyers at the Law Firm of Stephen Bilkis & Associates, we are well aware of what can happen if a doctor misdiagnoses a condition. The patient's condition may deteriorate and complications may develop. In addition, the patient may suffer serious financial damage due to being unable to work because of the serious health condition caused by the medical mistake. We strongly believe that the victim of a medical professional's incompetence should not have to shoulder the financial consequences of the medical professional's mistake. We are here to help you through the legal process and help you secure fair compensation for your losses due to the medical misdiagnosis.

Medical misdiagnosis occurs when a medical professional such as a medical doctor gets the diagnosis wrong. This may mean that the doctor failed to make any diagnosis, made the wrong diagnosis, or made the diagnosis after too long of a delay. The misdiagnosis must be unreasonable. This means that the misdiagnosis must be such that a competent doctor would not have made the mistake. Doctors and medical professionals often fail to get diagnoses correct right away. Symptoms may point to more than one possible condition. It is legally acceptable for a doctor to not make the correct diagnosis right away. What is not legally acceptable is for the doctor to fail to make a diagnosis based on a set of symptoms that any other competent doctor would make.

A patient was diagnosed as suffering from cancer of her kidney and the kidney was removed. It was later determined that the lump in the kidney was in fact a kidney stone.

A patient had been suffering from abdominal pain and was sent for a CT scan. The radiologist misread the results of the scan, failing to determine that the patient had a perforated bowel. The patient died.

A patient suffered from an infection in her spine which her doctor failed to diagnose. As a result of the misdiagnosis, the patient is now paralyzed. Had the doctor made the correct diagnosis, the infection could have been successfully treated with antibiotics.

As a medical misdiagnosis attorney in Suffolk County will explain, under New York law, in order to prevail in a medical malpractice claim, you must be able to prove 4 things. The doctor or other medical professional that you name as the defendant must have owed you a duty of care. Typically, to prove this you must show that you were the patient of the doctor, as doctors owe patients a duty of care. Next, you must show that the doctor breached that duty. This involves proving that in failing to correctly diagnosing your condition, the doctor did not show the skill and competence that other doctors would have shown. You must also show that as a result of the doctor's breach of duty, you suffered an injury. In the case of a failure to diagnose, this may mean that your condition deteriorated, or it may mean that you developed a complication or another condition. Finally, you must show that the cause of your deteriorated condition was the failure to properly or timely diagnose your condition.

While the defendant in a medical malpractice case based on a misdiagnosis is often a medical doctor, the defendant may be other medical professionals such as natural doctors, dentists, chiropractors, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants.

Should you prevail in your claim, compensation awarded may be related to your medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering.

If your medical condition deteriorated or you suffered a new injury because a doctor misdiagnosed your condition, you should contact an experienced medical misdiagnosis attorney serving Suffolk County at the Law Offices of Stephen Bilkis & Associates. Our staff has years of experience successfully representing clients in medical malpractice cases as well as other types of personal injury and wrongful death cases. Contact us at 800.696.9529 to schedule a free, no obligation consultation regarding your case. We represent clients in the following locations: the Bronx, Brooklyn, Long Island, Manhattan, Nassau County, Queens, Staten Island, Suffolk County and Westchester County.