New Haven Failure to Diagnose Lawyer

New Haven Failure to Diagnose Attorney

We all rely on doctors to identify and diagnose illness and serious conditions early enough so that we can take the necessary steps to get proper treatment. But if your New Haven doctor fails to diagnose your serious or potentially life-threatening condition, the outcome could be devastating. If a failure to diagnose a New Haven illness results in further sickness or bodily harm, there are legal options available.

At Jacobs & Jacobs, our New Haven medical malpractice lawyers will thoroughly investigate the situation and fight on your behalf to hold the responsible doctors accountable. We’re committed to winning fair compensation for you or any loved one that’s been impacted by medical negligence.

Why Choose Us

• We are a small law firm that provides big results. We’ve achieved multiple record-setting settlements and verdicts for our clients using proven legal strategies.
• Our Connecticut personal injury law firm has been fighting for clients since 1918. We understand the laws surrounding medical malpractice claims and how to navigate them.
• We keep our legal fees affordable. Jacobs & Jacobs operates on a contingency fee basis, meaning you won’t pay your medical malpractice lawyer unless he or she wins your case.

What Is Failure to Diagnose?

Physicians owe many responsibilities to their patients. They must conduct themselves in accordance with the high standards maintained by the medical industry. While performing tasks such as patient intake, doctor’s appointments, tests and diagnoses, doctors must use an appropriate level of care and prudence. If a physician falls short of these duties of care, the patient can suffer the consequences. This is a tort known as medical malpractice.

One of the most common examples of medical malpractice is the failure to diagnose an injury, illness, disease or condition. Some of the most dangerous errors include:

• Cancer misdiagnosis
• Failure to diagnose infections
• Failure to diagnose heart attack or disease
• Failure to recognize and correct surgical errors
• Failure to diagnose and treat post-surgical infection
• Delayed diagnosis

A physician must use the process of eliminations to make a diagnosis. A doctor should listen carefully to the patient’s complaints, review his or her medical history, make a list of possible diagnoses, and recommend tests to narrow down the list. Any failure to fulfill this duty, such as rushing through a doctor’s appointment, misreading test results or failing to recommend the patient to a specialist, could lead to a harmful misdiagnosis – or no diagnosis at all. This can result in the patient never receiving the medical treatments that he or she needs.

How Jacobs & Jacobs Handles Cases of Failure to Diagnose in New Haven

At Jacobs & Jacobs, Our medical malpractice attorneys in New Haven know what it takes to hold a doctor or health care center responsible for the failure to diagnose. Our attorneys understand the New Haven diagnostic process and will thoroughly investigate all pertinent medical records, x-rays, test results, lab errors and steps taken by the doctor. 

Early detection is critical, and carelessness or inattentiveness on the part of the attending doctor can result in severe illness or even death. Doctors are trained to identify symptoms and provide the treatment and options available. Our law firm holds these health care providers accountable when they fail to correctly address serious medical conditions in New Haven.

What Do You Need to Prove in a New Haven Failure to Diagnose Case?

If you were injured by the failure to diagnose a condition in a timely manner, you may be able to file a medical malpractice claim against the responsible doctor and/or hospital. To bring this type of lawsuit, you or your attorney must have evidence that supports your claim. It is your burden of proof as the filing party to prove the elements of your case as more likely to be true than not true through clear and convincing evidence. A lawsuit based on the failure to diagnose or misdiagnosis will consist of three main elements:

1. A doctor-patient relationship existed. You and the doctor in question must have had a professional doctor-patient relationship at the time of your misdiagnosis. This gives the doctor a duty of care to treat you according to high medical standards.
2. The doctor fell short of the standard of care. There must be proof that the doctor acted or failed to act in a way that was aligned with the standard of care, such as by failing to diagnose a condition that a reasonable and prudent doctor would have diagnosed in the same circumstances.
3. The doctor’s failure was the actual and proximate cause of injury. The damages that you are claiming, such as a physical injury or medical bills, must be a direct result of the doctor’s failure to diagnose your condition.

Proving a failure to diagnose case can be difficult – especially since the hospital’s insurance company will do its best to avoid a high payout. You may be up against a powerful insurance corporation and aggressive legal team. An attorney from Jacobs & Jacobs can help you collect evidence to establish the elements of your medical malpractice case. Then, we can present a compelling case to a defendant on your behalf. We will take over negotiations and litigation with the defendant to increase your chances of a successful case outcome.

Contact Our Medical Malpractice Attorneys Today

If you or a loved one has suffered due to a health care provider’s careless failure to diagnose your injury or condition, don’t hesitate to contact Jacobs & Jacobs to request a free initial consultation at our local law firm in Connecticut. We have the experience, financial resources, and access to medical experts needed to thoroughly investigate medical malpractice cases and fight for justice. Call our firm at (203) 777-2300 to discuss your case.