Misdiagnosis

When you go to the doctor, you expect to receive an appropriate diagnosis and a recommended course of treatment, whether this involves a prescription or a surgical procedure. If you have suffered harm due to a medical professional’s misdiagnosis of your condition, the Maryland misdiagnosis lawyers at Burgos & Burgos, LLC can help. You can rest assured that we will investigate the facts of your case and help you secure the compensation that you need to move on with your life. We have assisted patients throughout Montgomery and Prince George's Counties, as well as in Washington, D.C., with navigating their medical malpractice cases, and we can help you as well. Everyone on our staff is fluent in Spanish, which can be helpful for clients who are more comfortable in that language.

A misdiagnosis refers to an incorrect diagnosis of an illness or another medical condition. Each year, approximately 12 million adults, or 5 percent of adults who seek outpatient medical care, are misdiagnosed, according to the National Academy of Medicine. Another study that came out of the Mayo Clinic revealed that 20 percent of patients with serious conditions are initially misdiagnosed.

A misdiagnosis can have serious consequences for your health. When a medical condition is not properly identified, the existing condition can worsen. This is especially true when it comes to a cancer misdiagnosis, a kidney disease misdiagnosis, or other conditions in which early treatment can be vital to recovery. A misdiagnosis can have a number of causes, including:

• Failing to order or administer the proper tests;
• Failing to recognize the onset of an infection in a hospital or long-term care setting;
• Failing to recognize early signs of potentially terminal conditions;
• Failing to take the patient’s medical history into account; or
• Failing to conduct appropriate follow-up tests.

If you have been injured by a medical professional’s misdiagnosis, a misdiagnosis attorney at our Maryland firm can help you seek to recover compensation through a medical malpractice claim. In order to establish medical malpractice, the plaintiff must prove that the medical professional deviated from the generally accepted standard of care. This standard of care refers to the level of care and caution that a capable medical professional in the same specialty would use under the same circumstances. If the medical professional’s deviation was a direct and proximate cause of a patient’s injury, the defendant will likely be liable. Of course, a misdiagnosis itself does not automatically lead to liability. The key to determining whether malpractice occurred is examining whether the medical professional’s conduct deviated from the accepted standard of care. An attorney can help obtain a qualified medical expert to determine whether the client’s injuries were caused by the negligent medical provider’s deviation from the required standard of care.

Once medical malpractice is shown, a victim can seek a range of economic and non-economic damages. These damages typically include medical bills, rehabilitation costs, lost wages, pain and suffering, and other losses arising from the medical professional’s negligence.

Whether they are based on a misdiagnosis, a surgical error, or any other form of negligence, medical malpractice lawsuits must be filed within a certain time frame, known as the statute of limitations. Generally,in Maryland, a patient must file a medical malpractice claim either within five years from the date of the injury or within three years from when the injury was discovered, whichever is earlier. This deadline should not be taken lightly because failing to file within this time frame could mean being permanently barred from seeking compensation.

A misdiagnosis can have serious and long-term consequences for a patient. If you or a loved one suffered harm due to a medical professional’s misdiagnosis, you need to reach out to a skilled attorney as soon as possible. At Burgos & Burgos, LLC, we are committed to holding negligent medical professionals accountable for the harm that they cause and making sure that the voices of victims are heard. We are here to answer your questions and address your concerns. We assist people in Gaithersburg, Germantown, Silver Spring, Takoma Park, Wheaton-Glenmont, and Hyattsville, among other communities in Montgomery and Prince George's Counties, as well as Washington, D.C. Call us at (301) 681-1111 or contact us online to speak with a misdiagnosis lawyer in Maryland at no cost. We are also available if you need a birth injury lawyer to bring a claim based on shoulder dystocia or another condition.