Summary: A misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis does not automatically mean medical malpractice occurred. A viable claim generally requires showing that a healthcare provider failed to meet the appropriate standard of care and that the error or delay caused additional harm. These cases often require detailed medical records and expert review.
A wrong diagnosis does not automatically mean medical malpractice occurred. Doctors are not expected to get every diagnosis right every time. But they are expected to provide care that meets the appropriate medical standard.
When a doctor fails to recognize symptoms, order appropriate testing, follow up on abnormal results or take other steps that a reasonably competent medical provider would have taken under similar circumstances, a misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis may become medical malpractice.
These are some of the most common potential medical malpractice cases we evaluate at MRH Injury Law, and often some of the most complicated. Determining what happened requires digging deeper beyond the eventual diagnosis and carefully reconstructing what doctors knew, when they knew it and what should have happened differently.
What Is the Difference Between Misdiagnosis, Delayed Diagnosis and Failure to Diagnose?
The terms are closely related, but they describe slightly different situations.
Misdiagnosis occurs when a healthcare provider identifies and potentially treats the wrong condition while the patient’s actual condition goes untreated.
Delayed diagnosis occurs when the correct condition is eventually identified, but later than it reasonably should have been. If that delay allows the illness or injury to progress or limits treatment options, it may result in additional harm.
Failure to diagnose occurs when a medical condition is missed altogether despite symptoms, test results or other information that should have prompted further evaluation.
These situations frequently overlap. A patient may initially receive the wrong diagnosis, go through weeks or months of ineffective treatment and eventually learn that another condition should have been identified much earlier.
When Does a Misdiagnosis Become Medical Malpractice?
The fact that a doctor reached the wrong diagnosis is not enough by itself to prove medical malpractice.
The key question is generally: Did the healthcare provider act as a reasonably competent provider in the same specialty would have acted under similar circumstances?
This is known as the standard of care.
A viable misdiagnosis medical malpractice claim generally requires evidence that the provider failed to meet that standard and that the failure caused the patient additional harm.
For example, the issue may be whether another reasonably competent doctor would have:
- Recognized the significance of particular symptoms
- Ordered additional testing
- Referred the patient to a specialist
- Properly interpreted available information
- Followed up on an abnormal test result
- Considered other reasonable diagnoses when treatment wasn’t working
Medical malpractice cases typically require qualified medical experts to evaluate the care provided and explain whether it fell below the applicable standard. As we discuss in our Most Common Questions About Medical Malpractice Cases in Kansas City, expert review is an important part of determining whether a potential case can move forward.
There is another critical piece: the mistake must have caused harm.
A doctor may have made an error, but if receiving the correct diagnosis earlier would not have changed the patient’s treatment, prognosis or outcome, there may not be a viable malpractice claim.
That distinction is especially important in delayed diagnosis lawsuits.
What Conditions Are Commonly Involved in Misdiagnosis Claims?
Almost any medical condition can potentially be misdiagnosed. However, certain conditions can have particularly serious consequences when diagnosis and treatment are delayed.
Examples include:
Cancer
With many cancers, the stage of the disease at diagnosis can affect treatment options and prognosis. A failure to appropriately investigate symptoms, follow up on abnormal findings or recognize concerning test results may allow cancer to progress before treatment begins.
Because early detection dramatically affects prognosis, breast, colon and lung cancers are among the types of cancer that may be involved in delayed diagnosis claims.
Heart Attack and Stroke
Symptoms of a heart attack or stroke are not always textbook. In some cases, serious symptoms may initially be attributed to anxiety, indigestion, migraine or another less serious condition.
When warning signs are missed and treatment is delayed, the consequences can be severe.
Sepsis and Serious Infections
An infection that initially appears relatively minor can become life-threatening if it progresses to sepsis. A potential malpractice case may involve failing to recognize signs of a serious infection, order appropriate testing or respond as a patient’s condition worsens.
Appendicitis and Other Acute Abdominal Conditions
Abdominal pain can have many causes, which can make diagnosis challenging. But certain symptoms, examination findings and test results may require additional investigation to rule out appendicitis or another serious condition requiring prompt treatment.
These examples are not a checklist for determining whether malpractice occurred. A poor outcome or an initially incorrect diagnosis does not necessarily mean a healthcare provider was negligent. Each case requires a careful review of the patient’s symptoms, medical history, test results, treatment and other circumstances.
What Causes Misdiagnosis and Delayed Diagnosis?
A diagnostic error can happen for many reasons.
Potential issues we may dig deeper into include:
- Failure to order appropriate tests
- Misreading test results
- Failure to follow up on abnormal results
- Failure to consider the patient’s complete medical or family history
- Inadequate communication between providers
- Failure to refer a patient to the appropriate specialist
- Rushed patient evaluations
- Inadequate staffing or resources
- Failure to communicate important information during transitions in care
Sometimes the problem goes beyond the actions of one doctor.
Communication failures between a primary care provider, specialist, radiologist, laboratory or hospital can mean important information falls through the cracks. Staffing decisions and systemic practices within a hospital or medical facility can also affect patient care.
At MRH Injury Law, we dig deeper because we care what happens to you. That means we don’t necessarily stop our investigation with the provider who made the diagnosis. We look at the entire chain of care to understand what happened, why it happened and who may have been responsible.
Why Are Misdiagnosis Medical Malpractice Cases So Difficult to Prove?
Misdiagnosis and delayed diagnosis cases can be especially complex because proving that a mistake occurred is only part of the case.
You also have to determine what should have happened and whether it would have changed the outcome.
That often requires medical experts to address two separate questions:
Did the provider violate the standard of care?
An expert may need to explain what a reasonably competent healthcare provider should have done based on the information available at the time.
Did that violation cause additional harm?
An expert may also need to determine whether an earlier or correct diagnosis would likely have changed the patient’s treatment or outcome.
The second question can become a major point of dispute.
For example, if cancer was diagnosed six months later than it should have been, the defense may argue that the disease would have progressed the same way even with an earlier diagnosis. The patient’s case may require medical evidence showing how the delay affected the stage of the disease, available treatments or prognosis.
Medical records can also be extensive. Understanding a potential failure-to-diagnose case may require reconstructing months or even years of appointments, test results, referrals, phone calls and treatment.
That is where digging deeper matters.
MRH Injury Law carefully investigates medical malpractice claims, works with qualified experts and prepares cases for trial. We dig deeper because we care, and we fight harder because it matters.
How Long Do You Have to File a Misdiagnosis Lawsuit in Missouri or Kansas?
The deadline for filing a medical malpractice lawsuit is particularly important in misdiagnosis cases because patients sometimes do not realize a mistake occurred until months, or even years, later.
Missouri and Kansas have different rules, and you should not assume that the deadline begins when you discover the misdiagnosis.
In Missouri, medical malpractice actions generally must be filed within two years from the date of the alleged negligent act. Missouri law provides certain specific exceptions, including circumstances involving a foreign object left in a patient’s body and certain failures to inform a patient of medical test results. However, there is not a broad discovery exception that automatically extends the deadline simply because a patient learned later that an earlier diagnosis may have been wrong.
Kansas also generally has a two-year limitations period for claims arising from healthcare services. However, Kansas law provides that when the fact of the injury is not reasonably ascertainable at the time of the initial act, the limitations period may begin when the injury becomes reasonably ascertainable. Other time limits can still apply.
The rules are more complicated than simply counting two years from a doctor’s appointment, or two years from the day you discovered the problem.
If you believe you were misdiagnosed or your diagnosis was unnecessarily delayed, talk to an attorney as soon as possible, even if the medical care occurred years ago. An attorney can evaluate which state’s law applies, when the applicable deadline may have begun and whether an exception could affect your case.
What Should You Do If You Believe You Were Misdiagnosed?
If you suspect a medical provider missed or delayed an important diagnosis, your health should remain the priority.
1. Get the medical care you need now
Consider getting a second opinion from an independent medical provider and following the treatment recommendations you receive. A lawyer can evaluate what happened in the past, but your immediate priority should be addressing your current medical needs.
2. Request your complete medical records
Ask for records from every provider involved in your care, not just the provider you believe made the mistake.
Depending on the circumstances, relevant records may include:
- Office visit notes
- Emergency department records
- Imaging and radiology reports
- Laboratory results
- Pathology reports
- Referral records
- Hospital records
- Medication records
- Communications between providers
Our guide, 5 Essential Steps When You Are the Victim of Medical Malpractice, explains additional steps you can take to protect yourself after a potential medical error.
3. Create a timeline
Write down when your symptoms began, which providers you saw, what you told them, what testing was performed, what you were told and when you eventually received the correct diagnosis.
You do not need to reconstruct every detail perfectly. A basic timeline can help identify important dates and records that should be reviewed.
4. Don’t assume it’s too late to call a lawyer
Statutes of limitations in medical malpractice cases can be complicated, particularly when a diagnosis was missed and the patient did not immediately know something had gone wrong.
Don’t try to determine the deadline yourself. Talk to a medical malpractice lawyer promptly and let them evaluate it.
Talk to a Kansas City Misdiagnosis Lawyer
Misdiagnosis medical malpractice cases require more than showing that a doctor was wrong.
They require understanding what information was available, what should have been done differently and whether the mistake changed the patient’s outcome. That can mean reviewing years of medical records, consulting multiple experts and looking beyond one provider to determine whether broader failures contributed to the harm.
That is the kind of work MRH Injury Law is built to do.
We dig deeper because we care what happens to you, and we fight harder because it matters. We uncover what others miss, prepare every case for trial and support our clients through every step of the process.
If you or a loved one suffered serious harm because of a misdiagnosis, delayed diagnosis or failure to diagnose, contact MRH Injury Law for a free consultation or take our Do I Have a Case? quiz to learn whether you may have a claim.