Dallas Failure to Diagnose Attorney

What is failing to diagnose?

Medical practitioners will not get the diagnosis of their patients correct every single time, but that does not necessarily mean malpractice has been committed. However, Johns Hopkins researchers have said that medical mistakes are the third leading cause of death in the country. These same researchers have also noted that diagnostic errors cause more patient harm than any other medical mistake and that they account for the largest percentage of all medical malpractice claims in the US. Their research indicates that “misdiagnosis leads to significant permanent injury or death in as many as 80,000 to 160,000 patients annually.”

There are various reasons why a medical professional may fail to diagnose a patient properly. In general, this begins if a doctor or nurse fails to obtain a complete medical history for their patient. This typically means that they need to gather the patient’s:

• Past medical history
• Family medical history
• Current medications
• Current signs and symptoms

Even if medical professionals do obtain a complete medical history of their patients, other problems can emerge that could lead to a failure to diagnose. This can include:

• Failing to perform necessary scans or tests indicated by present symptoms
• Failing to ensure that radiologists or other professionals properly analyze test results
• Failing to follow up on test results

Cases relating to a failure to diagnose a patient are more likely to occur when a medical professional lacks appropriate training for the setting they are in or if a medical professional is overworked and/or the medical facility is understaffed.

Victims in these cases need to be aware that there is a two-year medical malpractice statute of limitations in Texas. This means that a medical malpractice case needs to be filed within two years from when the mistake occurs or from when the mistake was discovered (or should reasonably have been discovered by the patient). Additionally, there is an overall statute of repose for medical malpractice cases in Texas of ten years. This means that no medical malpractice claim can be filed more than ten years after the mistake occurred, regardless of when the error was discovered.