Misdiagnosis is one of the most common forms of medical malpractice, even in the case of cancer. Misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis can cost a patient's time, money, and many other life-changing activities as well. In addition, such misdiagnosis can cause problems for an individual, or an isolated practitioner, in deciding their healthcare functioning.

Doctors are legally committed to providing their patients with a certain level of professional care. This includes taking the necessary actions regarding diagnosis or treating other patients concisely. When a doctor fails to do so, the doctor could be held liable for medical malpractice and seek assistance from a medical malpractice lawyer.

Evidential Basis Of Cancer Misdiagnosis

However, the law does not hold doctors legally responsible for many diagnostic errors. In contrast, patients usually must prove three things to prevail in a medical malpractice lawsuit based on a wrong diagnosis:

• A doctor-patient relationship existed.
• The doctor was negligent — that is, if they did not provide treatment in a reasonably skillful and competent manner.
• The doctor's negligence caused the actual injury of the patient.

When Can a Doctor Be Held Liable For Such Malpractice?

Cancer misdiagnosis might rise to the level of medical malpractice if the doctor fails to:

1. Recognize reasonably apparent symptoms of cancer;

2. Order the appropriate cancer testing and screening;

3. Conduct follow-up tests based on positive or abnormal results of initial tests.

4. Observe a patient's medical history of cancer or family background of the disease during diagnosis;

5. Follow the proper means and measures for conducting cancer testing and other errors resulting in the tests.

Doctors can not always be considered guilty of medical malpractice. However, negligent errors by lab analysts, medical technicians, nurses, pharmacists, and administrators could also be malpractice.

Suppose there stands any chance of cancer misdiagnosis during the period of the disease becoming more difficult or impossible to treat. In that case, it's essential to speak to experienced medical malpractice lawyers as soon as possible.

How Can A Medical Malpractice Lawyer Help?

A medical malpractice lawyer specialized in dealing with cancer patients will be able to identify and collect the data pertaining to the case and proceed with the necessary research to keep in mind the justification for a medical malpractice lawsuit based on a cancer misdiagnosis.

In a medical malpractice case based on diagnostic error, the patient or the hired medical malpractice lawyer on behalf of his client must prove that a doctor with similar expertise, under similar situations, would not have misdiagnosed the patient's illness or condition. In practical understanding, this proves one of two things:

• The practitioner did not adopt the correct diagnosis on the differential diagnosis list, which a reasonably skillful and competent doctor under similar circumstances would have.

• Doctor's failure to perform appropriate tests or seek opinions from specialists to investigate the viability of the diagnosis, including the correct diagnosis on the differential diagnosis list.

In any of these cases, the doctor and the medical faculty would be liable to pay off the victim or the victim's family in case of his demise. The doctor would be claimed, and a proper interrogation would follow to ensure the allegation had legal validity.

In Conclusion

Whether a cancer patient can be considered in terms of medical malpractice depends on many factors, some of which are mentioned above. However, there are many other factors determining such morbid cases. In case of any confusion, make sure to consult a trusted medical malpractice lawyer.