When you go to a doctor, you typically are receiving preventative care or seeking treatment for the symptoms of an illness. In return, you expect to receive a clear diagnosis and course of treatment, if needed. Sometimes, however, doctors ignore or overlook symptoms, which can lead to a failure to diagnose lung cancer and other serious diseases.
Delays in treatment can lead to the progression of the diseases, which may be fatal in some cases. If you or a loved one has suffered as a result of delays in getting a correct diagnosis, an Arlington Heights failure to diagnose lung cancer lawyer may be able to help.
We know how devastating it can be to discover that you have a catastrophic illness. You likely are even more concerned about your future as you begin your treatment. In this situation, you may be eligible for compensation through a legal claim against the doctor who failed to diagnose you. Call (800) 217-6099 and get answers to your questions about your legal rights from Pintas & Mullins Law Firm.
The Need for Prompt Diagnosis and Treatment
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that lung cancer is the third most common cancer, behind skin cancer, breast cancer for women, and prostate cancer for men. However, more people die of lung cancer each year than any other type of cancer. Although lung cancer diagnoses arise most often in smokers, even nonsmokers may get lung cancer, especially if they have suffered repeated exposure to certain toxic substances, such as radon gas and asbestos.
Doctors have a duty to reasonably examine their patients, consider their symptoms, and make an accurate diagnosis. Once they have a diagnosis, they can refer you to medical specialists if needed and help you develop a treatment plan. A failure to diagnose lung cancer can result in significant delays in treatment.
The Cleveland Clinic states that treatment for lung cancer varies according to the type of tumor involved and its staging, or whether the cancer has spread beyond the lung to other areas of the body. While treatment can cure early-stage lung cancer, later-stage lung cancer can be fatal.
Lung cancer has one of the lowest survival rates, which makes early detection and treatment crucial. At present, lung cancer survivors have only a two-year survival rate of 25% and a five-year survival rate of 15%.
How a Lung Cancer Misdiagnosis Might Occur
A doctor can fail to diagnose lung cancer in various ways. For instance, a doctor may attribute symptoms to another illness or disease, particularly if a person is a nonsmoker or not otherwise at high risk for lung cancer. If the person does not improve, it still may be several weeks before he or she returns to the doctor, then receives a referral to a specialist, and begins treatment. As a result, initial delays in a proper diagnosis can lead to substantial delays in treatment.
Likewise, a doctor could fail to order simple diagnostic tests or misread the results of those tests in failing to diagnose lung cancer. By the time another doctor or specialist orders and views test results, the patient can experience significant treatment delays, which can lead to the necessity of more aggressive treatment and outcomes that are less likely to be successful.
For a free legal consultation with a Failure to Diagnose Lawyer serving Arlington Heights, call (800) 794-0444
Medical Malpractice Claims Based on a Failure to Diagnose Lung Cancer
When a doctor fails to properly recognize, order testing, and diagnose lung cancer in a patient, the results can be fatal. Patients who have suffered delays in treatment due to a failure to diagnose may have a medical malpractice claim against their doctors under state law.
All doctors have a duty of care to treat their patients in a reasonable manner and safeguard their health. If the doctor fails to live up to this standard and acts differently than a similarly qualified doctor in the same position would act, then the doctor may be liable or financially responsible for any resulting injuries that the patient suffers.
The negligent actions of the doctor in failing to diagnose lung cancer can form the basis for a medical malpractice claim. An Arlington Heights failure to diagnose lung cancer lawyer can help determine if you or a loved one has a valid medical malpractice claim.
If the delayed lung cancer diagnosis results in the death of your loved one, your family still may have legal recourse. Certain surviving family members may be eligible to bring a claim for compensation under state wrongful death laws. Even if a late diagnosis proves fatal, your family still may be able to hold negligent doctors accountable for their negligence.
Arlington Heights Failure to Diagnose Lawyer Near Me (800) 794-0444
Deadlines for Filing Failure to Diagnose Claims
Like all lawsuits, medical malpractice and wrongful death claims are subject to strict timelines or statutes of limitations. Under 735 ILCS §5/13-212, injured parties generally have two years from the date that they knew or reasonably should have known about the malpractice that caused their injuries. In some cases, individuals may not know about their injuries immediately. In that case, injury victims have no more than four years from the date of the failure to diagnose to file their claims.
Likewise, if a failure to diagnose lung cancer leads to the death of your loved one, you also have a limited time to file a wrongful claim. Under the Illinois Wrongful Death Act, found at 740 ILCS §180/1, surviving family members have two years from the date of death of their loved ones to file their wrongful death claims.
Missing these deadlines can result in you and your family being unable to seek any compensation for your losses. More importantly, you may miss the opportunity to hold the negligent doctors accountable for their actions.
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Get Help with Your Failure to Diagnose Claim Today
You can rely on an Arlington Heights failure to diagnose lung cancer lawyer to investigate, evaluate, and determine whether you have a valid medical malpractice or wrongful death claim. The attorneys and staff at Pintas & Mullins Law Firm are here to guide you through every step of the claims process. Call (800) 217-6099 today to take the first step toward resolving your legal claim and getting compensation for your injuries.
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