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A Michigan failure to diagnose lawyer can help if you or someone you care about was harmed due to a misdiagnosis. We rely on physicians and hospitals to properly diagnose our medical conditions. Unfortunately, too often a condition is missed or just properly diagnosed.

When you go to a doctor, you expect them to be able to study your symptoms and make an accurate diagnosis.

Unfortunately, a medical professional in any field—including family physicians, ER doctors, and specialists—can make an error or mistake when diagnosing a patient that may lead to severe injuries or even death.

Depending on the circumstances of your case, you may be able to hold a medical professional responsibility to provide compensation for your losses. This is accomplished through the filing of a medical malpractice lawsuit.

By working with a well-practiced attorney, you could rest assured that a legal professional is guiding you through each step of the process.

The Potential Hazards of a Missed Diagnosis

Maintaining a patient’s health is a collaborative effort between a patient and a doctor. Of course, patients should always be honest with their doctors about how their conditions are affecting them, or if they have any health concerns.

Nevertheless, doctors should always take steps to investigate any complaints, to order appropriate tests, and to refer a patient to a specialist when needed.

The ability to diagnose a condition is central to good practice and proper medical care.

The State of Michigan requires all physicians, nurses, and hospitals to provide care that meets the appropriate standard for every patient they see. This includes performing a proper workup, blood tests, and other diagnostic testing to either confirm a suspected diagnosis or to determine the proper diagnosis of an illness or complaint.

No matter the circumstances, however, a skillful Michigan medical malpractice lawyer can help injured patients to understand if a failure to make a proper diagnosis involved a breach of a medical professional’s owed standard of care.

That is, was the failure to diagnose the result of negligence. If so, our dedicated attorneys will help to pursue a claim for compensation.

Legal Considerations in Failure to Diagnose Cases

All failure to diagnose cases—as a subset of medical malpractice cases—must rely on the testimony of a medical expert that fits the state’s specific criteria.

According to Michigan Compiled Laws § 600.2169, any expert must first be a licensed medical professional, as well as a specialist in the same field as a defendant doctor.

If the defendant doctor has sub-specialties then the expert must also have the same ones to qualify under the state statute.

Additionally, the expert witness must have spent the majority of the past year actively practicing in the area of medicine at issue in the case or be teaching that specialty in an accredited medical school or residency program.

Because of these requirements, a knowledgeable failure to diagnose lawyer is needed to help a plaintiff to identify and hire an appropriate expert witness.

Failure to diagnose malpractice lawyer

Are there Time Limits to File a Michigan Medical Malpractice Lawsuit?

There are very strict procedural requirements and deadlines to bring a medical malpractice case in Michigan.

First, a lawsuit must generally be filed within two years of the failure to diagnose the condition. There are some exceptions to the two year rule, but very few. These include cases involving the death of the patient, those involving minors, and when a medical error is first discovered after the two year period.

State laws also mandate that a plaintiff service a written Notice of Intent to File Lawsuit on all potentially negligent parties more than 182 days before filing a lawsuit in court. By filing this document before the two year lawsuit deadline, you can often extend the period of time to file suit.

There are some minor exceptions to these deadlines so it is important to contact an experienced lawyer immediately to avoid missing your cutoff dates.

Failure to Diagnose Lawsuit Case Study

A patient visited his primary care doctor with signs and symptoms of an evolving stroke.

The doctor did not recognize the indicators for a cerebral vascular accident (CVA), or stroke. Rather, the patient was instructed to return home and rest instead of going to the emergency room.

Over the next several days, the patient suffered a severe stroke.

As a result, he suffered severe neurological and physical disabilities. The suit alleged that the harm was preventable and the injuries resulted from failing to send the patient to the hospital. The case settled for $ 1 million.

Retain a Skilled Michigan Failure to Diagnose Attorney

A failure on the part of a doctor, nurse, or dentist to accurately and timely diagnose a condition could lead to serious—or even fatal—health consequences.

Whether this involves the neglect to diagnose, a sudden condition such as a heart attack, or an inability to recognize an insidious disease such as cancer, every moment that passes without treatment increases the chances for irreversible harm.

A Michigan failure to diagnose lawyer could help you if a doctor’s neglect to uphold their standard of care resulted in a worsening of your condition.

A compassionate attorney could help to perform an initial investigation into the incident, identify and hire a qualified expert witness, and pursue fair compensation in settlement talks or court.

We charge no legal fees unless you win a settlement. And, it costs nothing to start your case.

To discuss your options today, call a legal professional at Buckfire Law Firm.

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