Contact Us

Get In Touch

Teal & Montgomery
Attorney who is a medical doctor
Part of our Winning Team

In Sacramento failure to diagnose is a serious legal concern that is possible any time you bring a troublesome health symptom to the attention of your primary care physician or specialist. When you told your doctor of your pain or other symptoms in or near Sacramento, did he or she listen and respond appropriately? Or, did the doctor discharge your complaints as unimportant, irrelevant or even accuse you of hypochondria?

Medical Diagnosis Errors

Your doctor has many responsibilities. Your physician is responsible for recognizing whether or not you are showing symptoms of any number of serious diseases or illnesses. Your doctor should also understand any risk factors that would make it more possible for you to acquire a severe medical condition in the future and whether or not you possess those risk factors. Sometimes, mistakes are made, such as:

  • Failure to diagnose happens when the physician completely overlooks the connection between your symptoms and a medical condition and takes no course of treatment
  • Misdiagnosis could be a failure to diagnose, but usually occurs when your doctor thinks you have one condition when you actually have something different
  • Delayed diagnosis is when your doctor doesn’t make the connection between your symptoms and a medical condition quickly enough and further illness or other harm occurs as a result

Did Malpractice Take Place?

In a medical malpractice case, several things must be proven such as:

  • You must show there was a doctor-patient relationship and there was a legal duty of care. This duty obliges the physician to have the medical wisdom and abilities required of a reasonably competent doctor who practices a similar kind of medicine.
  • You must show the doctor breached or broke that duty – he or she made a mistake in diagnosing your medical illness.
  • You must show you incurred harm or injury of some kind, such as developing a more grave medical condition.
  • You must show the physician’s mistake is the direct cause of your injury or harm.

In regards to errors in diagnoses, the individual facts and circumstances of each case determine whether or not malpractice has occurred. Since doctors are human, it is expected they will make mistakes; no can be right all of the time with every patient. There are also instances when doctors might do everything they’re supposed to do and a condition or disease still remains unnoticed. Even if a mistake was made, it will not be considered malpractice if there was no injury as a result of the mistake.

Medical Negligence Causing Irreparable Harm

In some cases, medical negligence can lead to irreparable harm. Some examples of this may be

  • An OBGYN failing to diagnose a high-risk medical condition during pregnancy, which should have indicated a need for a planned cesarean delivery to ensure the health and safety of you and your baby. Instead, a difficult labor and birth resulted in your child suffering from shoulder dystocia and mild cerebral palsy.
  • Your doctor failed to notice cancerous cells or follow up on an abnormal pap smear, which led to the spread of cancer throughout your abdomen.

Could these outcomes have been avoided with proper and timely diagnosis of your high-risk factors or cancer indicators?

Talk to one of our medical malpractice lawyers who will listen thoughtfully and offer initial recommendations with no charge or obligation. Call 916-448-1010 to contact a qualified malpractice attorney today.

Whatever has occurred in your life after a California doctor failed to diagnose a serious condition, if you suffered expenses and losses as a result, you could have a claim for compensation. You may need assistance because the failure to diagnose or other medical negligence or medical malpractice has ultimately led to a wrongful death. It’s time to talk to a medical malpractice attorney at the law offices of Teal & Montgomery.

Contact A Davis Failure-To-Diagnose Cancer Attorney

Personal injury and medical malpractice attorneys of Teal & Montgomery in Sacramento and Santa Rosa include a doctor who is also a lawyer. Attorneys of Teal & Montgomery can evaluate your case and make preliminary recommendations based on our knowledge and experience handling medical malpractice claims and lawsuits in California.

Find out more on the ” How We Can Help You” page. Learn more about personal injury law on our “Frequently Asked Questions” page. See a sampling of ” Results” and ” Testimonials.”

We welcome you to contact us or call 916-448-1010 to schedule a free initial consultation at your convenience. A Sacramento failure-to-diagnose lawyer can visit you in your home or hospital if necessary.