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Medical Malpractice In Ohio Caused By A Missed Or Late Cancer Diagnosis

Medical doctors are controlled by a set of standards they must follow when it comes to diagnosing and treating medical issues, injuries, and disease. When it comes to cancer, a timely diagnosis goes a long way to creating a favorable prognosis. If a mistake is made and cancer is diagnosed too late, then the prognosis can be much worse. A medical doctor in Ohio can be sued for a missed or late cancer diagnosis. Here’s more on how this can happen, and what you should do if you have fallen victim to your medical provider’s negligence.

Undiagnosed Cancer

One of the more common medical malpractice claims we see in Ohio is the failure to diagnose cancer. However, not every cancer misdiagnosis (or failure to timely diagnose cancer) amounts to a viable medical malpractice case against the doctor. These cases are extremely complicated and need to be thoroughly reviewed by a skilled and knowledgeable Ohio medical malpractice lawyer before an opinion can be given as to whether a lawsuit should be filed.

Given the gravity of these types of claims, you do not want to hire just any lawyer who practices personal injury law. You want a lawyer fighting on your side that knows the ways in which a missed or late cancer diagnosis equates to malpractice, who has the resources to take on a complex cancer-based case, and who focuses heavily – if not exclusively – on representing medical negligence victims. A good malpractice attorney will be able to talk to medical experts in the appropriate field to determine if your doctor deviated from the current standard of care with respect to your cancer, either in the diagnosis of it or in its treatment. If the doctor failed in their duties, and that failure caused measurable harm and damages to you, then the doctor and their medical practice can be held legally responsible for the damages suffered by you and your family.

Elements Of An Ohio Medical Malpractice Case

In order to have a viable Ohio medical malpractice case, there are some general elements that must be met. These elements are broad and apply to all types of medical negligence cases:

  1. A patient/doctor relationship was established between you and the medical professional. In other words, you agreed to have the doctor provide care and treatment to you, and the doctor agreed to provide this case and treatment. In most cases, this element is easy to prove.
  2. The medical professional breached their duty of care to you, meaning that they failed to provide the standard of care to you that another reasonable medical professional would have provided to you given your condition and circumstances.
  3. The breach of the standard of care caused you injury. In a cancer case, this typically means a delay in diagnosis caused the cancer to spread, resulting in a decreased chance of cure or a significant change – for the worse – in the nature of the treatment and its effects on your body.
  4. You suffer actual damages. This may include additional expenses associated with treatments that were necessitated by the delay in diagnosis or additional pain and suffering.

Establishing what that standard of care is regarding a specific treatment protocol can be very complicated. The difficulty lies in the notion that medical science changes over time given new research, technologies, and procedures. The standard of care can be a moving target. Still, medical professionals have a duty of care to use up-to-date evidence-based treatments, as well as to timely diagnose any problems.

Every case relating to medical malpractice is different. The same type of damage or injury may affect one person differently than another person, especially when we consider how the harm affects a person’s ability to work, play, and enjoy life’s pleasures.

But most medical malpractice cases are either won or lost on proving that there was a breach of the standard of care and that the breach was the true cause of additional injury. Suppose a patient who, due to a mistake at the doctor’s office, had a late cancer diagnosis and died fairly soon after the correct diagnosis of cancer. That patient’s family would have to prove not only that the cancer should have been diagnosed sooner, but also that the patient would have been cured (or at a minimum, survived for a significantly longer period of time) if the cancer had been diagnosed timely. If the attorney representing the patient’s family cannot locate a credible medical expert to support these propositions, this would not be a viable medical malpractice case.

Possible Malpractice Mistakes With Specific Cancers

Here are some general types of medical errors when it comes to the diagnosis of certain cancers:

Breast Cancer

Lung Cancer

Colon Cancer

Skin Cancer

Cervical Cancer

Thyroid Cancer

Leukemia

Missed Cancer Diagnosis Malpractice Attorneys

If a medical professional’s mistakes have led you or a loved one to suffer from a missed or late cancer diagnosis, this could cause life-altering and potentially deadly results. However, physicians and their practices are in no hurry to admit fault. So, if you want to ensure that your case goes right, you should promptly consult with an Ohio medical malpractice lawyer. The Eisen Law Firm, with decades of experience representing medical malpractice victims, has the skill and discernment to successfully advocate for you and make your physicians and their practices appropriately compensate you for their carelessness. We are here for you. To learn more about how The Eisen Law Firm can help you, give us a call at (216) 687-0900 or contact us online.