When an oncologist runs tests to determine if you have lung cancer, they should take the time and care needed to ensure that they diagnose you properly.
If a Berwyn doctor told you that you were healthy when you had cancer, they should be held accountable for your injuries and losses. You might be able to file a medical malpractice lawsuit against the medical provider that failed to diagnose you.
A Berwyn failure to diagnose lung cancer lawyer from Pintas & Mullins Law Firm might be able to help you with your case. We work on a contingency fee basis, so you do not need to worry about paying anything upfront. Call a team member today for a free, no-obligation consultation at (800) 217-6099. You are not alone in your fight for justice.
Consequences of Failing to Diagnose Lung Cancer
If a doctor failed to diagnose your lung cancer, you might have waited longer than you needed to receive treatment. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an early diagnosis often leads to a better prognosis.
Lower Survival Rates
When lung cancer progresses to later stages, the survival rate drops dramatically. For example, if your lung cancer was localized (it hasn’t spread past your lung), you might have had about a 60% chance of surviving past the five-year mark. However, if your lung cancer progressed regionally (if it spread to nearby lymph nodes or organs) after the oncologist failed to diagnose you, your five-year survival rate drops to about 31%.
Fewer Treatment Options
Along with a grimmer prognosis, a late-stage cancer diagnosis might mean fewer treatment options. Doctors can cure early-stage lung cancer with surgery alone or by a combination of surgery and radiation or chemotherapy.
However, if you were diagnosed with cancer late, and it spread regionally or distant, your options might be limited. Doctors focus on easing later-stage lung cancer pain and helping you live longer, but treatment most likely will not cure you.
Overview of Medical Malpractice
Failing to diagnose lung cancer might be considered medical malpractice. You would have a medical malpractice claim if the doctor’s actions were outside of the “standard medical practice.” In other words, if a medical professional acting reasonably would’ve diagnosed your cancer properly under the same circumstances, you could have a medical malpractice claim.
How to Prove Medical Malpractice
To prove your medical malpractice claim, you generally have to prove the following four criteria:
- Duty of care: You have to prove that your doctor had a responsibility to keep you safe. Every medical professional must act in a reasonable way to keep you safe. You can typically prove this with medical records indicating a doctor-patient relationship.
- Breach of duty: Next, you will need to show that the doctor breached their duty of care by misdiagnosing your lung cancer.
- Causation: You will also need to show that their failure to diagnose your lung cancer led to you becoming further injured in some way. For example, if you would’ve been at an earlier stage had they diagnosed you correctly, this would show causation.
- Losses: You can show your losses through medical bills, your worsened prognosis, fewer treatment options, pain and suffering, and more.
If you and a lawyer can prove everything listed with adequate evidence, you might deserve compensation.
For a free legal consultation with a Failure to Diagnose Lawyer serving Berwyn, call (800) 794-0444
How a Berwyn Failure to Diagnose Lung Cancer Lawyer Can Help You
Patients and their families choose to hire a lawyer to take on medical malpractice claims because they need to focus on healing and spending quality time with their families.
A lung cancer lawyer can help you by gathering pertinent evidence, building a case against the negligent medical practitioner, negotiating a settlement, and even taking your case to trial if need be.
They can also tell you what awards you could recover in a medical malpractice claim. Some of these awards could include:
- Medical expenses: Costs for radiation, chemotherapy, surgery, hospital stays, prescription medications, and more.
- Lost wages: Paychecks missed from the time you have been out of work, wages you will lose in the future, lost savings, and lost earning capacity if you cannot return to work.
- Non-economic damages: This can include pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, loss of consortium, disability, disfigurement, and more.
- Wrongful death: If your loved one died due to a missed cancer diagnosis, you could recover costs for their funeral and burial expenses and lost household help and income, among other losses.
This is not a complete list of the compensation you could receive in your lawsuit, and each case is different. A lawyer can evaluate all of your losses and estimate what you should receive in a settlement from the negligent party or in a court judgment.
If you would like to learn more about your options for legal recourse, you can call a team member at Pintas & Mullins Law Firm at any time.
Berwyn Failure to Diagnose Lawyer Near Me (800) 794-0444
Medical Malpractice Statute of Limitations
Each state in the U.S. has a different time limit for filing civil cases against negligent parties, called statutes of limitations.
In Illinois, victims of medical malpractice have two years from the date of their injury or death or two years after one should reasonably find out about the injury to file a lawsuit against a medical professional, according to 735 Illinois Compiled Statutes (ILCS) §13-212. The statute also specifies that you cannot file a lawsuit past four years from the injury or death date.
If you fail to file your lawsuit within the statute of limitations, the court might dismiss your case. A lawyer can tell you how much time you have left to file.
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Contact Pintas & Mullins Law Firm for Help
If a doctor failed to diagnose you or a loved one’s lung cancer, you and your family should not have to pay for the costs. We might be able to help you hold the medical professional accountable for your losses.
A Berwyn failure to diagnose lung cancer lawyer from Pintas & Mullins Law Firm is ready to take on your claim and help you every step of the way. Call a member of our law firm today at (800) 217-6099 for a free evaluation of your case.
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