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What Is A Tennessee Medical Malpractice Lawsuit on Misdiagnosis?
Consult a Tennessee medical malpractice lawyer to file a misdiagnosis lawsuit when there is evidence linking diagnostic errors to injury and adverse impacts on health. Human error (by doctors and the medical staff) is a leading cause of injury in the state and hundreds suffer every year due to wrong or delayed diagnosis of illness. This causes patients to endure worsening conditions and side effects of erroneous treatment. “Medical malpractice is the third single cause of death after heart attack and cancer,” claims the Journal of the American Medical Association.
What Are The Different Types of Medical Malpractice Misdiagnosis?
About 12 million US residents suffer due to misdiagnosis every year. The following conditions are considered to be fit for filing misdiagnosis litigations claiming medical malpractice in Tennessee.
- Wrong diagnosis or failure to identify the existing illness and mistaking it for some other health problem. A doctor can be liable, for example, when he mistakes a heart attack as gastric distress or a cancerous tumor as benign.
- Missed diagnosis or the failure of a doctor, pathology lab, or hospital to diagnose any existing health problem of a patient and declaring him healthy and free from illness.
- Delayed diagnosis or the failure of a doctor or hospital to act within a reasonable time frame to diagnose the health condition. Significant delay in prescribing proper treatment or acting on diagnostic reports can lead to hospitals and their staff being sued for medical malpractice in Tennessee.
- Diagnosis error or failure to identify health complications. This occurs when doctors err in recognizing the disease complications despite correct diagnosis and such errors aggravate the illness.
- Error in diagnosing related illness or failure to recognize diseases as result of the existing illness.
What is the Statute of Limitations for Filing Misdiagnosis Lawsuits?
A Tennessee medical malpractice lawsuit for misdiagnosis must generally be filed within a year, although there are exceptions. You should discuss the statute of limitations with a Tennessee medical malpractice lawyer.
Who Can Be Sued?
Collect all your records prior to visiting your Tennessee medical malpractice lawyer for evaluation of your claim. Hospitals, nursing homes, pathology labs, doctors, or medical staff can be held liable for misdiagnosis. However, prior to filing a Tennessee medical malpractice lawsuit, the plaintiff must provide evidence that
- the defendant had a duty to ensure proper diagnosis
- the defendant was negligent in his duty causing medical malpractice
- the negligence is the cause of misdiagnosis
- the medical malpractice caused the patient damages
What Are Damages I Can Seek?
Plaintiffs filing a Tennessee medical malpractice lawsuit citing misdiagnosis can claim a range of compensations, including
- Damages for wrongful death, injury, pain, and suffering
- Recovery and reimbursement of past and future medical expenditure
- Damages for loss of family life and emotional disturbance
- Damages for loss of employment
- Disability compensation
- Punitive damages
More than $3 billion was awarded by US courts in 2012 as medical malpractice compensation. On an average, there was one award in every 45 minutes.
Contact a Tennessee Medical Malpractice Lawyer
If you or a loved one in Tennessee, Arkansas or Kentucky believes you are the victim of medical malpractice and have sustained an injury to yourself or your child, infant, parent or loved one, please contact us today.
CALL: 1-800-632-1404
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