Has Your Medical Condition Been Misdiagnosed?

Canadians trust their medical professionals to diagnose their injuries and medical conditions accurately. However, if your condition is misdiagnosed, and if you are harmed as a result of that misdiagnosis, you will need the advice and services of a Halifax medical malpractice lawyer.

How Often Does Medical Misdiagnosis Happen?

According to an article published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal medical errors in Canada impact nearly 25% of Canadians.

When a medical misdiagnosis injures a patient or causes a decline in a patient’s medical condition, a malpractice lawyer can:

  1. Determine how the misdiagnosis occurred;
  2. Who is responsible for the error; and
  3. Help the injured patient recover compensation for the damages caused by the misdiagnosis.

What Constitutes a Medical Misdiagnosis?

A misdiagnosis happens when a doctor, nurse or other healthcare provider fails to properly diagnose a patient’s symptoms, injury, illness, or condition. When this happens, patients may receive ineffective or incorrect treatment or no treatment whatsoever.

Serious side effects – and sometimes even a wrongful death – may be caused by a medical misdiagnosis. Cancer, stroke, and traumatic brain injuries are among the most frequently misdiagnosed medical conditions.

A misdiagnosis is almost never a “simple” mistake. A failure to diagnose a patient’s condition accurately, to conduct the appropriate tests, or to decide on the appropriate treatment is a failure to provide a professional standard of care and may constitute medical malpractice.

Are There Different Types of Misdiagnosis?

The general term “medical misdiagnosis” includes the following medical errors:

  1. An incorrect diagnosis happens when a doctor inaccurately identifies a medical condition.
  2. A delayed diagnosis happens when a medical condition is not accurately identified in a timely manner.
  3. A missed diagnosis happens when a doctor misses or overlooks a medical condition’s signs and symptoms.
  4. A failure to diagnose happens when a doctor fails to examine you or to test you for a possible medical condition.
  5. Medical complications can be missed or overlooked even if a condition is accurately diagnosed but the factors aggravating that condition are unidentified or misidentified.

Who May Be Held Liable for a Medical Misdiagnosis?

A medical misdiagnosis may point to systemic negligence within a healthcare facility – negligence that can be avoided when proper procedures are implemented.

Depending on the details of your misdiagnosis claim, the liability for a misdiagnosis may be assigned to a doctor, a nurse or another healthcare provider, or to a healthcare facility. A hospital or another medical facility may be held liable if its employees are responsible for malpractice.

However, not every medical misdiagnosis necessarily constitutes medical malpractice. Your medical malpractice claim will prevail only if the misdiagnosis harmed you and only if you and your Nova Scotia medical malpractice lawyer can prove it.

How Should You Respond to Medical Malpractice?

Based on a medical misdiagnosis, a patient may receive the wrong medication or the wrong treatment, causing even more harm. When a healthcare provider’s negligence causes a patient’s harm or injury, that patient and the patient’s family need immediate, sound legal advice.

In Nova Scotia, take your injury claim to a Halifax medical malpractice lawyer. Your lawyer will investigate how you were injured, speak with any witnesses, and begin negotiations to recover your compensation.

In order to verify your medical malpractice claim, your lawyer may have you examined by an independent medical provider, and your lawyer may also ask a medical expert to provide testimony or a statement on your behalf.

How Are Malpractice Claims Resolved?

In Nova Scotia, many medical malpractice claims that are based on a misdiagnosis are resolved when the lawyers privately negotiate an out-of-court settlement that is acceptable to both sides.

However, if the medical provider or medical facility denies liability for the misdiagnosis, or if no reasonable settlement amount is offered in the out-of-court negotiations, your Nova Scotia medical malpractice lawyer will take your claim to trial.

At trial, your lawyer will explain to the judge or jury how the misdiagnosis happened, how it lead to the patient being injured (and how severely you were injured), cast doubt on the other side’s evidence and testimony, and ask the court to find in your favor and award you the compensation you need and deserve.

What Else Should You Know About Misdiagnosis Claims?

In Nova Scotia, medical malpractice claims based on a medical misdiagnosis usually must be filed within two years of the misdiagnosis or within two years of the discovery of the injury or harm caused by the misdiagnosis.

In Nova Scotia, the courts do have discretion to extend limitation periods in certain circumstances. So even if you think the limitation period has run out, you should seek advice from an experienced medical malpractice lawyer.

There are several narrow exceptions that can allow the limitation period to be extended, but if you miss the two-year deadline, you may not be allowed to recover compensation. There is also an “ultimate limitation date” – a fifteen-year deadline – even if the injury or harm remains undiscovered for a full fifteen years.

Determining the deadline for a particular injury claim is not always easy. In or near the Halifax area, if you are the victim of a medical misdiagnosis and you have questions about deadlines or any other aspect of your case, schedule a consultation with a medical malpractice lawyer at once.

How Can You Afford a Lawyer’s Help?

If you have been harmed by medical malpractice, do not let financial concerns prevent you from seeking the justice you genuinely need and deserve. Even if you are unable to work due to your medical condition, and even if your debts are mounting, you can afford a lawyer’s help.

Malpractice lawyers represent clients on a contingent fee basis. The consultation to review your legal rights and options is offered with no obligation or cost. If you proceed with legal action, you won’t have to pay any legal fees unless or until you recover compensation with an out-of-court settlement or a trial verdict.

How Should You Choose a Medical Malpractice Lawyer?

For decades, McKiggan Hebert Lawyers has represented the victims of medical malpractice – and has prevailed on their behalf – in the Halifax area and throughout Atlantic Canada.

Call our nationally-recognized legal team now if you have suffered harm or injury – or if you believe you’ve suffered harm or injury – due to a medical misdiagnosis. If you take legal action, you will owe McKiggan Hebert no lawyer’s fee unless and until we recover your compensation.

To learn more about your legal rights as a victim of medical malpractice, or to begin the legal process today, contact the award-winning medical malpractice lawyers at McKiggan Hebert by calling our Halifax law offices at 902-706-2298.