The cancer misdiagnosis rate may be twice as high as the overall medical misdiagnosis rate, which is about 20 percent. Most doctors view cancer as a lifestyle or genetic condition. As far as they’re concerned, only smokers get lung cancer and only people with a family history of this disease get any kind of cancer. Furthermore, initial cancer symptoms, like pain and fatigue, are vague.
So, unless the doctor orders a full battery of tests, properly interprets the results, and responds to them appropriately, the patient’s cancer may go undiagnosed. Breakdowns are frequent in these areas. Many doctors don’t want to fuss with insurance companies over payment and therefore don’t order diagnostic tests. Other doctors over-delegate test result interpretation to non-physicians, like nurses. Finally, even when they have clear evidence of cancer, many doctors don’t follow up. Instead, they rely on their instincts.
In contrast, the diligent Port St. Lucie Failure to Diagnose Cancer lawyer at Freidin Brown, P.A. always pays close attention to details. Our meticulous nature is a little more time consuming. However, our clients reap the benefits of this investment, in the form of maximum compensation for their serious injuries.
Duty of Care
Most drivers have about the same level of education, experience, and training as most other drivers. Therefore, in most cases, motorists have a duty of reasonable care. They must follow the rules of the road and avoid accidents if they can.
Doctors are different. They have a lot more education, experience, and training than their patients. So, physicians have a fiduciary duty. They must set aside all other priorities and only do what’s best for their patients, regardless of the cost. Furthermore, they must bring all their skills to bear in every patient encounter, whether that encounter is brain surgery or an annual well checkup.
This higher duty of care makes it easier for a Port St. Lucie failure to diagnose cancer lawyer to establish negligence, or a lack of care. As the old saying goes, with great power comes great responsibility. When doctors fail to live up to their responsibilities, they’re usually negligent, from a legal perspective.
The higher duty also affects the damages in a medical malpractice case. Because so much is expected of them, when doctors fall short, most jurors award additional punitive damages. These damages convince doctors to change the way they approach patient care. Therefore, other families won’t have to go through the same thing as your family endured.
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Breach of Care
Essentially, a medical malpractice breach of care is a doctor’s failure to live up to the fiduciary duty. We mentioned some common misdiagnosis breaches of care above.
The standard of care is very high. But the burden of proof is very low. Generally, victims must only establish a breach of care by a preponderance of the evidence (more likely than not). Therefore, circumstantial evidence is more than enough to prove a breach of care, at least in most cases.
If Doctor A says a patient is cancer free and Doctor B spots a tumor, that’s usually enough to obtain compensation. In addition to the aforementioned punitive damages, this compensation usually includes money for economic losses, such as medical bills, and noneconomic losses, such as pain and suffering.
Reach Out to a Thorough St. Lucie County Lawyer
Injury victims are entitled to substantial compensation. For a free consultation with an experienced Port St. Lucie failure to diagnose cancer lawyer, contact Freidin Brown, P.A. We routinely handle matters throughout the Treasure Coast area.