When many people think of malpractice, they think of medical errors that lead to injuries. However, many malpractice cases arise from physicians’ mistakes that cause harm indirectly. Here, readers can learn about these cases and they can find out how a Delayed Diagnose Attorney in Bedford can help them file a claim.
Delayed Diagnosis and Malpractice
In a delayed diagnosis case, a patient would have suffered harm even if the doctor hadn’t been involved. For instance, if a patient’s cancer is treatable but a diagnosis is delayed until it spreads, and the patient dies as a result, the doctor didn’t directly cause the patient’s eventual death. However, the doctor was indirectly involved because a correct diagnosis would likely have prevented the patient’s death.
What Patients Must Prove
A patient must prove three elements to win a malpractice claim:
* The existence of a doctor/patient relationship
The physician’s negligence
That harm was caused by the negligent act
These elements are explained in detail in the sections below, in the context of malpractice cases based on a delayed diagnosis.
Establishing a Doctor/Patient Relationship
The requirement is simple. When doctors examine patients or provide treatment, a relationship is typically established. In a delayed diagnosis case, a patient must simply show that a relationship existed at some time. It’s not necessary to show that the relationship existed during the entire delay period.
Proving a Physician’s Negligence
A doctor may act negligently when he or she fails to provide the same level of care that a competent doctor would have offered in similar circumstances. In a delayed diagnosis suit, a patient must prove that the doctor should have been under a care standard and that the standard was breached.
Breaching the Standard
The next task for a Delayed Diagnose Attorney in Bedford is to prove that the doctor failed to follow the care standard. In a delayed diagnosis case, these breaches are typically easy to point out.
Proving Harm
To win a malpractice case, a patient must show that the doctor’s negligence caused predictable harm. It’s up to the lawyer to prove that the delayed diagnosis was the actual cause of the harm. If someone has been harmed because of a physician’s delayed diagnosis, they can know more about us by calling the office or visiting the website.
