What Happens If Your Injury Was Misdiagnosed?

Being hospitalized is never a pleasant experience. It can take days, weeks and even months for you to fully recover from injuries or sickness. But what happens when the injury or sickness you are seeking treatment for is misdiagnosed? Oftentimes, the results are catastrophic leading to death or serious injury.

Why Does a Misdiagnosis Occur?

A medical misdiagnosis can occur for a wide variety of reasons. Despite the extensive experience many doctors and nurses have, they are human, and mistakes can and do happen. Common reasons for misdiagnosed injury include:

• Failing to recognize and understand the significance of your symptoms.
• Failing to order the correct tests for your injury.
• Misinterpretation of laboratory test results.
• Failure to understand your past medical history; how your medications or other co-morbidities may be contributing to your present injury.
• Failing to accurately or timely communicate your condition to the physician.
• Failing to accurately record your condition or test results in the medical record.

How Can You Prove a Medical Misdiagnosis Occurred?

In New Jersey, a doctor or nurse is liable for misdiagnosis. This is the case when their errors deviate from the accepted standard of care as determined by what the average physician or nurse practicing in the same specialty would do in an identical situation. In fact, attorneys usually hire expert witnesses in the same field of medicine or nursing to testify as to what the care standard is for a particular medical condition. And, whether the doctor or nurse deviated from accepted medical standards in their treatment. Additionally, medical experts are also retained to prove whether any alleged deviation caused the resulting condition of the injured patient. These cases are extremely hard-fought. Furthermore, they are contentious as doctors, nurses and hospitals all seek to defend their reputations against the clams of malpractice.

Moreover, it is important to remember that a doctor or nurse is not responsible anytime a patient has a bad result. Or, does not achieve the desired outcome. As long as the doctor or nurse has provided treatment within the appropriate care standards, they are not liable for poor outcomes. Or, accepted risks of the condition or procedure. On the other hand, where a doctor or nurse deviates from accepted care standards and injuries or death results, they are liable.

What to Do if You Are the Victim of a Misdiagnosed Injury

Medical malpractice can change a person’s life in an instant. In fact, roughly 80,000 people in the United States are the victims of malpractice each year, though that figure may be closer to 100,000 in actuality. Despite this, victims bring forward only one-in-eight medical malpractice claims for every injury.

At Rossetti & DeVoto P.C., we’ve successfully represented hundreds of individuals who were victims of medical malpractice. Many of these cases reach a settlement at trial or after trial for confidential amounts. This includes our recent settlement of $700,000 for the widow of a 56-year-old husband and father who died after he was negligently discharged from an emergency room in North Jersey. Rossetti & DeVoto successfully argued that testing done at the emergency room should have led the physician to suspect sepsis and order additional testing and treatment for the infection. Instead, the emergency room sent him home, without antibiotics, and he died of a massive infection just four days later.

At Rossetti & DeVoto, we work tirelessly for our clients and continuously fight for their rights. If you believe you are a victim of medical malpractice or a misdiagnosed injury, give us a call today at 844-263-6260.