Doctors are not obligated to diagnose every disease immediately. Some delays will happen. However, doctors do have an obligation to avoid negligence and to avoid unreasonable delays. Patients deserve a certain standard of care, and that standard should be upheld.
For instance, say that your doctor doesn’t really seem to listen to you at appointments. They set up some scans or tests, but then they lose the results. Perhaps they’re in a rush, so they make a quick diagnosis without actually considering all of the symptoms—and they get it wrong. The actual diagnosis doesn’t come until months later.
You could argue that this delay was created by the negligence of your healthcare provider in losing your medical records, failing to consider evidence properly and not listening to your account at the appointment.
Avoidable costs
One issue with a delayed diagnosis is that it can create avoidable costs. Maybe you’ve had other tests performed in the meantime. You had to go to other appointments, take time off work, pay for transportation and more. None of this would’ve happened if you had just received the correct diagnosis initially.
Development of the disease
Another issue is that the delay could allow the disease to develop further. A common example is cancer. In the early stages, cancer may be operable, but the delay could allow it to metastasize and spread throughout the body—making it far more likely to be fatal.
If you have suffered harm due to medical negligence or malpractice, be sure you know what legal options you have. You may deserve compensation for lost wages, medical bills and more.
