WE HELP VICTIMS OF MISREAD DIAGNOSTICS GET THE COMPENSATION THEY DESERVE
Technology is an important part of how doctors diagnose illnesses today. Diagnostics and radiology procedures like CT scans, X-rays, and MRIs are a way for doctors to diagnose illnesses without resorting to more invasive procedures.
The physicians that read these types of diagnostic records are called radiologists. Generally, a radiologist is almost never going to be the doctor that treats you directly, but will instead be a part of your treatment team. Having your diagnostic film read accurately is very important when it comes to determining what’s ailing you and the correct course of treatment needed to deal with the problem.
When diagnostic film is read incorrectly, the consequences can be severe for the patient. Reading the test wrong means that it’s more difficult to reach the right diagnosis. With the wrong diagnosis, your medical team may pursue therapies that make the issue worse. At the very least, the time to reach the correct diagnosis is delayed, meaning a patient won’t necessarily be getting the treatment they need when they need it and their health outcomes will be worsened, leading to a prolonged recovery and larger medical bills.
Holding Radiologists Accountable
Radiology can be used by doctors to find medical issues like cancer, fractures, and internal bleeding. Of course, these radiological films have to be read properly to reach the right diagnosis and start the correct treatment.
Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon for the radiologist to read an x-ray, MRI, CT scan, or mammogram incorrectly. The results can be devastating, leading to a failure to diagnose and an inappropriate treatment plan.
For instance, if your radiologist misreads films, then your doctor will be working with incorrect information and be unable to reach a proper diagnosis for a health issue like cancer as soon as they could have. This means that your health outcomes may be worse as the delay can mean that the cancer has more time to spread, causing more harm and potentially death because the sooner your cancer is found, the better the health team is able to treat it.
Delays in diagnosis can have other negative impacts as well. Treating more advanced stages of cancer can cost at least twice as much as dealing with lesser stages of the disease. This is because the needed interventions are more extensive and invasive. This increases recovery times as well. On a related note, the same effect can happen in reverse. If a misread diagnostic leads to a misdiagnosis of the issue being more serious than it is, then doctors may opt for more serious interventions that are more expensive and often carry serious potential side-effects.
Misread Imaging Liability
To establish liability in a misread diagnostic case, whether that be for the radiologist or another doctor, you have to show that they didn’t meet a standard of care that other professionals reasonably would have in the same situation. In order to receive damages, you also have to show that this misreading directly caused you harm.
In order to establish liability for the radiologist or other physician who misread the films or report, you would have to establish that the doctor failed to meet the standard of professional care that other competent professionals in the same specialty would have met. It is also necessary to prove that this failure caused the harm you suffered. If the harm you suffered is exactly the same as what would have happened even if the film or report were properly read, you will not be able to establish causation.
GET A FREE CONSULTATION
If you don’t take the proper steps after a misread radiological report, you could miss out on the compensation you deserve. If you or a member of your family have suffered as a result, you should contact the experts at Thistle Law for a free consultation of your case. We’ve handled a number of medical malpractice cases and will put all of our knowledge to work to get you the payout you deserve.
We’ll determine if you have a case at no charge to you. Call today at 215-525-6824 or complete this form: