When people seek medical care, they expect a physician to listen to their concerns, order necessary tests, make accurate diagnoses, and recommend the proper treatment. Unfortunately, that does not always happen.
Cancer is life-threatening, and some forms of it are more aggressive than others. According to the National Cancer Institute, cancer detected early is generally easier to treat. Once cancer has reached an advanced stage and spread to other parts of the body, treating it can be much more challenging.
If cancer is missed, or if a doctor misdiagnoses it as another condition, a patient may not receive potentially life-saving treatment quickly. In some cases, a cancer patient may not receive treatment at all and die from a condition that might have been treatable.
Things can also go the other way. A doctor may diagnose a patient with cancer when that is not true. The person may undergo unnecessary treatments, including chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery, and suffer physical pain and side effects that dramatically reduce their quality of life.
The patient and their family may bear enormous financial costs. A person undergoing cancer treatment might be unable to work, which means the loss of income can make the entire situation hard to manage. The worst part may be the emotional toll of going through needless suffering because of an inaccurate diagnosis.
If you have found yourself in either of these situations, you might be struggling to come to terms with it all and looking for justice. A Los Angeles cancer misdiagnosis lawyer can review your case and possibly advise you on next steps.
Pintas & Mullins Law Firm might be able to file a medical malpractice lawsuit to seek financial compensation to cover your medical expenses, lost income, and pain and suffering. Call our office today at 800-794-0444 for a free case evaluation.
How Cancer Is Misdiagnosed
Errors can happen in numerous ways. A doctor may fail to take a patient’s concerns seriously and not order a test that could diagnose cancer. A physician may assume a person does not have cancer since that individual does not belong to a high-risk group, or they may not know a patient is in a high-risk group because they failed to collect detailed information on the person’s medical history.
In some cases, a doctor listens to a patient and orders appropriate tests, but an error in the testing process leads to a misdiagnosis. A physician may take a biopsy and send it to a laboratory, but a technician may fail to detect cancer or think a sample is cancerous when it is not. A technician could perform a test incorrectly, or the equipment used may be contaminated.
Samples can be mislabeled, and records of different patients can get mixed up. That can cause a patient to receive the results of someone else’s test, which may be a false positive or a false negative. That patient may then undergo unnecessary treatment for a medical condition they do not have, or they may not receive treatment that is needed.
How an Attorney Can Determine Who Is Liable for a Misdiagnosis
A Los Angeles cancer misdiagnosis lawyer can investigate the situation to figure out what went wrong and who was responsible for the mistake. Pintas & Mullins Law Firm can review your medical records to find out how your symptoms were initially recorded, and which tests were ordered. If your doctor did not request one or more tests that would have been appropriate given the circumstances, the physician could be found liable for your misdiagnosis.
We can also review your test results to find out whether they were accurate. If the results were inaccurate, that might indicate that an error occurred at the lab. We can then investigate further to find out how the mistake was made and who was responsible.
Our investigation may reveal that the results of the test were valid, but they were interpreted incorrectly. For instance, a technician may have failed to realize the tissue sample from your biopsy was cancerous or may have reported that it was malignant when it was not.
If your physician received inaccurate information and recommended or administered treatment based on that data, or failed to recommend or administer appropriate treatment because of it, the laboratory could be held liable.
For a free legal consultation with a Cancer Misdiagnosis Lawyer serving Los Angeles, call (800) 794-0444
Seek Justice for Your Inaccurate Diagnosis
A misdiagnosis can have devastating consequences for the patient and their loved ones. When it comes to a life-threatening condition such as cancer, a delay in treatment can dramatically reduce the odds of survival. Being told you have cancer when you do not can be traumatic, and undergoing unnecessary treatments can be expensive.
No matter which situation you found yourself in, you may feel like your life was turned upside down. You might be feeling angry and wondering how things might have been different if you had received an accurate diagnosis.
Pintas & Mullins Law Firm may be able to help you hold accountable the party or parties responsible for your cancer misdiagnosis. Since our firm works on contingency, you will not have to pay us a fee unless we obtain a financial award that compensates you for your losses. Call our office today to learn more about how we might be able to assist you.
Los Angeles Cancer Misdiagnosis Lawyer Near Me (800) 794-0444
Keep the Statute of Limitations in Mind
If you are interested in filing a medical malpractice lawsuit, keep in mind that you have a limited time to take legal action. According to California Code of Civil Procedure (CCP) § 340.5, the statute of limitations to file a medical malpractice lawsuit is three years from the date of injury or one year from the date when the plaintiff discovered or should have discovered the injury, whichever comes first.
Figuring out who is liable for your cancer misdiagnosis could take considerable time, as it can be a complex and time-consuming process.
Your Los Angeles cancer misdiagnosis lawyer may have to interview witnesses, review volumes of health care records, and consult independent medical experts to sort everything out. We will then need time to build and file a case that can support your lawsuit. So, the sooner you get started, the sooner we can get to work for you and ensure your lawsuit is filed on time.
Contact Pintas & Mullins Law Firm at 800-794-0444 for your free case evaluation today.
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