Misdiagnosis, Failure to Diagnose Lawyers Vero Beach

A misdiagnosis can have devastating effects. If you or a loved one has suffered an injury because of a misdiagnosis, you might be able to file a lawsuit against the responsible doctors, nurses, lab personnel, or medical facility for your injuries.

These cases fall into the category of medical malpractice, a type of personal injury claim. These cases are usually based on a theory of negligence, which is the failure to use the level of care that a reasonable person would use in a similar situation. For medical malpractice claims, the legal basis is slightly different: the medical provider must have failed to meet the standard of care for their profession.

To prove medical negligence, you must prove the following elements:

1. The healthcare professional owed you a duty to use a level of care that is acceptable and appropriate by reasonably prudent similar healthcare providers;
2. The healthcare professional violated (breached) that duty; 
3. You suffered harm as a result of that violation; and
4. The healthcare professional’s violation was a cause of your injuries.

Importantly, this standard of care is based on the standards for their profession/specialty. For example, a primary care doctor will be held to the same standards as other primary care doctors – which may or may not be the standard of care for a cardiologist.

Consider a situation where an expectant mother visits her obstetrician for a prenatal checkup. She is showing signs of gestational diabetes, like frequent urination, exhaustion, and excessive thirst. The doctor tells her that these symptoms are just from her pregnancy and does not do any tests to check for gestational diabetes. The mother is later diagnosed with preeclampsia and delivers her baby prematurely because of uncontrolled gestational diabetes.  This scenario may very well present a case of medical negligence, particularly if the baby or the mother suffers harm from the doctor’s failure to timely diagnose gestational diabetes.

If you believe that your doctor misdiagnosed you, you should schedule a free consultation with a Florida medical malpractice attorney. Florida has a 2-year statute of limitations for most personal injury claims, so it is important that you act sooner rather than later. During your appointment, your lawyer will listen to your story and then offer you advice on your legal rights and options for pursuing a claim.

If you decide to move forward, they will begin by working with medical experts to determine if the standard of care was violated. This involves gathering medical records, witness statements, and other evidence. Once this documentation has been analyzed, your attorney will have a better idea of the merits of your lawsuit.

The next step is to provide notice to the at-fault parties – the defendants – of your intent to file a claim. The defendants have 90 days to investigate the claim. Once that 90-day period has elapsed, we can file a lawsuit against the healthcare provider and other responsible parties.

Filing a medical malpractice lawsuit does not mean that your case will go to trial. Instead, it allows us to move forward with discovery, where the parties will exchange information related to your misdiagnosis claim. In many cases, a settlement can be negotiated without ever having to go to court.

If the defendants and their malpractice insurance carriers refuse to offer you a fair settlement, then we will take the case to trial. We will make arguments, introduce evidence, and question witnesses before asking a jury to return a verdict in your favor for the misdiagnosis of your medical condition. 

The best way to get the compensation that you deserve for your injuries is by working with the skilled Florida medical malpractice lawyers at Gould Cooksey Fennell. We have a track record of success in misdiagnosis cases, which we will put to work to get you top dollar for your losses.