Understanding medical misdiagnosis
Medical misdiagnosis occurs when a healthcare professional fails to provide a correct diagnosis, either by missing a condition, making an incorrect diagnosis, or delaying recognition of key symptoms. Medical misdiagnosis claims often arise from errors such as cancer misdiagnosis, inadequate interpretation of medical records, failure to carry out appropriate tests, or mistakes in referrals. Common examples include missed fractures on x-rays, brain bleeds that go untreated, or cancers such as lung, melanoma, breast, or cervical cancer being missed or wrongly diagnosed. Medical errors in diagnosis frequently lead to inappropriate or unnecessary treatment, negligent surgery, or a lack of appropriate treatment altogether. Our specialist medical negligence solicitors can navigate a wide range of examples, including:
- melanoma (skin cancer) being missed
- lung cancer being missed on x-rays
- mammograms or biopsies being misinterpreted leading to breast cancer being missed
- further damage being done due to fractures being missed on x-rays
- failures to act on brain scans that show bleeding, resulting in a stroke
- wrong interpretation of cervical smears leading to cervical cancer
- GPs failing to refer for specialist investigation.
To qualify for medical negligence compensation, it is not enough to prove that misdiagnosis happened. It needs to be the case that it involved medical professionals, following correct procedures, should not have made the error. In addition, the misdiagnosis must have itself led to harm. That could be:
- a delay in treatment that meant the condition got worse
- delayed treatment that resulted in a fatality or reduced life expectancy
- more intensive treatment being necessary
- incorrect treatment being administered and causing harm
- unnecessary surgery
- psychological harm due to misdiagnosis, such as incorrectly being told you are terminally ill.
