Chicago Misdiagnosis Lawyers

A serious misdiagnosis can delay needed treatment and make a condition worse. If you need a Chicago misdiagnosis lawyer, Dudley & Lake helps patients and families seek answers and compensation when a medical error causes harm. With more than 150 years of combined experience, our attorneys handle complex and catastrophic medical malpractice cases. We investigate what happened, work with medical experts and manage the legal process while you and your family focus on healing.

Understanding Misdiagnosis Claims In Illinois

In medical malpractice, misdiagnosis means a healthcare provider identifies a patient’s condition incorrectly. To bring a successful claim, a patient generally must show that the provider failed to provide the required level of care and that this failure caused an injury. The patient must also show a clear link between the provider’s negligence and the harm suffered.

The standard of care means the level of care a qualified provider would have given in a similar situation. A wrong diagnosis alone does not prove malpractice. The evidence must show that the provider failed to meet this standard and that the mistake caused harm.

A misdiagnosis can delay treatment and lead to serious complications, permanent disability, more medical care or death. Illinois generally also requires a qualified health professional to review the medical records and other relevant materials before a malpractice lawsuit begins. In most cases, that professional must provide a written report stating that the claim has a reasonable and valid basis, subject to certain exceptions.

Misdiagnosis differs from failure to diagnose. Misdiagnosis means a provider identifies the condition as something else. Failure to diagnose means the provider does not identify the condition even though the symptoms or other information should have led to further testing or evaluation.

Common Examples Of Misdiagnosis

An incorrect diagnosis can happen during testing, an exam or a review of a patient’s medical history. Common examples include:

• Lab test result failure: A lab may test the wrong sample, contaminate a sample or report the wrong result. A provider may then make a diagnosis based on incorrect information.
• Misread test results: A provider may misread an X-ray, CT scan, MRI or other test. This can cause the provider to miss signs of cancer, bleeding, infection or another serious condition.
• Misidentified symptoms: A provider may mistake symptoms for a less serious condition. This can cause the provider to miss signs of an infection, stroke or other serious illness.
• Historical oversight: A provider may overlook a patient’s past diagnoses, medications, family history or other risk factors. This information may have helped the provider reach the correct diagnosis.

Finding the source of the error can help show what went wrong. It can also help determine whether the mistake caused additional harm.

Which Ailments Are Commonly Misdiagnosed?

Reliable Illinois-only data does not show which conditions doctors misdiagnose most often in the state. National research, however, points to several serious conditions that often appear in studies of diagnostic errors.

• Stroke: An Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) review listed stroke among the five conditions that emergency doctors most often misdiagnose. The review estimated that about 1 in 18 emergency department patients receive a wrong diagnosis.
• Heart attack: The same review listed heart attacks among the conditions that doctors can easily miss in emergency departments.
• Cancer: A review of harmful diagnostic errors in hospitalized adults found cancer as the most common missed or delayed diagnosis in the studies it examined. Cancer made up 11% of those cases.
• Pneumonia: AHRQ research also lists pneumonia among the conditions that cause a significant share of serious harm from diagnostic errors.
• Serious infections: Doctors may also miss infections or diagnose them too late. A delay can give conditions such as sepsis time to become life-threatening.

These examples show how a diagnostic error can cause serious harm. A medical malpractice investigation can examine whether an earlier diagnosis and treatment could have improved the patient’s outcome.

Which Forms Of Evidence Are Used To Prove An Illinois Misdiagnosis Claim?

Medical malpractice claims often rely on medical records, test results and professional opinions. Lawyers may use several types of evidence to build a claim:

• Medical records: Medical notes, diagnoses, treatment plans, medication records and discharge records can show what providers knew and when they knew it.
• Diagnostic tests: X-rays, CT scans, MRIs, lab reports and pathology results can show what information the provider had. A medical specialist can then explain whether the provider read those results correctly.
• Medical testimony: A qualified doctor can explain the standard of care and whether the provider failed to meet it. The doctor can also explain how that mistake caused the patient’s injury.
• Treatment history: Records from other providers can show when doctors found the correct diagnosis, how the condition changed and whether earlier treatment could have improved the outcome.
• Damages evidence: Medical bills, employment records and evidence of lasting limitations can show the financial and personal harm the patient suffered.

As experienced misdiagnosis attorneys, we can compare these records with professional opinions and create a clear timeline of events. This work can help show what went wrong, whether the provider made a preventable error and how that error harmed the patient.

Schedule A Consultation With A Chicago Misdiagnosis Attorney Today

A misdiagnosis can affect your health, finances and family for years. To schedule a consultation, contact us at 847-504-8423 or send us an email. We can review your diagnosis, treatment records and resulting injuries to determine whether medical negligence may support a claim and explain your legal options. You do not have to navigate the process alone. Our team can help you understand your accident and what steps you can take next.