The medical community and legal professionals use the term “failure to diagnose” when your provider cannot reach a diagnosis. Sometimes, your Mississippi medical provider’s failure to diagnose may lead to patient harm and potential legal ramifications.
Reasons for a failure to diagnose
A medical provider may fail to diagnose for any of the following reasons:
- Your symptoms occur commonly in a variety of conditions.
- You may seek the advice of the wrong type of specialist.
- You may have multiple conditions, which makes the diagnosis harder to conclude.
- Your specific condition may not use a single diagnostic procedure or tool.
- The condition may occur rarely.
- You may not divulge important information about your eating or drinking habits that could help pinpoint a diagnosis.
Malpractice vs. negligence
If the failure to diagnose resulted in additional injury, you might file a medical negligence or malpractice lawsuit. If you seek to file a medical malpractice lawsuit, you must prove that your medical provider intentionally made a mistake while they were aware of the potential negative consequences. On the other hand, negligence occurs when a provider makes a mistake without being aware of the potential harm.
Common results of a failure to diagnose
An accurate diagnosis of your condition allows you to receive proper treatment. If your provider cannot diagnose you, the following may happen:
- The provider may tell you that your symptoms are not real.
- Your provider may make up a fake diagnosis.
- Your provider may prescribe treatment that only makes you feel worse.
- Your condition may worsen while you wait on a proper diagnosis.
All medical providers are human and may make mistakes. However, if this mistake causes you harm, they have not fulfilled their duty to care for their patient.
