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In view of recent figures, the number of misdiagnosis negligence claims is highest among all malpractice claims. That is the reason why it is getting more attention of healthcare authorities. In order to curtail increasing number of misdiagnosis negligence claims, new standards and regulations are being planned to govern medical diagnosis process. National Health Service is seriously contemplating on devising strict policies for the doctors who face more than a certain number of misdiagnosis negligence claims – they can be either charged fines or completely banned from their practice for the rest of their lives. The reason why misdiagnosis negligence claimsare taken as seriously as a birth injury case or a wrongful death case is the damaging implications associated with diagnostic errors. There are almost countless diseases and every disease needs to be diagnosed and identified in its own particular way. Any negligence while making diagnosis of patient’s condition can eventually give rise to incurable problems. Whether it is an undiagnosed condition or a wrongly diagnosed disease, the actual problem remains undiscovered and patients remain deprived of receiving right treatment at the right time. So, how to tackle this unfortunate situation? As it is unlikely to put an end to negligence instances, but misdiagnosis negligence claims can at least compensate its damages. Depending upon the complexity of the disease, diagnosis becomes difficult. In some conditions symptoms are very obvious and can be easily identified by even a general physician, on the other hand high-tech screening often fail in giving accurate reading hence making it impossible for specialists to comprehend patient’s condition. More often than not, misdiagnosis negligence claims are initiated by those unlucky people who had been wrongly diagnosed and given medication for cancer. As everyone knows how damaging is this disease, so would be its treatment if given unnecessarily. Thus, people in such cases have to unduly go through painful cancer therapy just because of doctor’s negligence – emotional distress is additional to all this. Apart from the cancer, mesothelioma is another commonly misdiagnosed disease and a reason for misdiagnosis negligence claims. The silent nature of this disease makes its early diagnosis even impossible – it gradually develops in the body with no obvious symptoms until it gets too late. Nevertheless, it is not mere intricacy of the disease; doctors also often act carelessly while diagnosing and treating patients. Sometimes it is incompetency of medical practitioners which add to the likelihood of misdiagnosis negligence claims. Inexperienced doctors overlook many visible symptoms and open a chapter of suffering for the wrongly diagnosed patients. Malpractice law is very well alive to the gravity and magnitude of misdiagnosis and allocates a huge amount to compensate misdiagnosis negligence claims. However, valid medical proofs and evidences are required to establish doctor’s negligence. If despite enduring all pains and damages of misdiagnosis claimants cannot convince the court of doctor’s negligence, misdiagnosis negligence claims will be nullified with no compensation award. Thus, to be proactive, it is always essential to maintain a medical record whenever you visit a doctor so that you may have something to show what doctor had diagnosed or prescribed you then.
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misdiagnosis, negligence, claims,
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