According to the Institute of Medicine’s Healthcare Quality Initiative, medical errors cause 4,000 to 98,000 unnecessary deaths and 1,000,000 excess injuries annually in this country. Common errors include misdiagnosis, providing the wrong medication, unintended medicine interaction, and wrong site surgery. Other errors, such as failure to provide the correct type of care, can also be common. In many cases, poor communication, too many patients for too few healthcare workers, inadequate training for new equipment or procedures, miscommunication due to poor handwriting, and other factors lead to medical error.

Whatever the causes of medical error, there is no doubt that errors cause incredible pain and suffering. Each year, thousands of families lose loved ones and many more individuals are injured because of mistakes that in many cases are preventable. The number of medical malpractice cases shows that in many cases, patients feel that the errors which they have endured could have been prevented. When patients contact Florida attorneys in order to launch medical malpractice lawsuits, they are effectively saying that they believe that a medical error which caused them pain was caused by negligence, not by accident.

One particularly painful type of medical error which leads to medical malpractice cases is misdiagnosis. Misdiagnosis of a serious condition can cause suffering, as an undiagnosed condition continues to cause pain while untreated. Worse, misdiagnosis can often compounds other medical errors. When a medical condition is not correctly assessed and evaluated, the patient may be given the wrong medication or treatment, which can cause serious side effects or worsen an existing condition. In many cases – notably, cancer – when a medical condition is not identified in time, delay in treatment can increase the chances that a condition will prove fatal to a patient.

Diagnosis is the first and most important step of dealing with any medical condition, and when a physician or healthcare worker does not correctly diagnose a patient due to negligence, that patient has a right to get compensation for their suffering. Seeking the help of a Florida attorney in cases of negligence and medical malpractice is important. Florida lawyers can ensure that you get the best treatment possible once you have been correctly diagnosed. If you have been misdiagnosed, Florida attorneys can also find you the answers you need and can work to ensure that other patients do not similarly suffer from negligence.

Under Florida laws, not all cases of misdiagnosis can lead to medical malpractice cases. A misdiagnosis must be the result of negligence and must have caused injury or harm. A patient must have started proceedings for their case one year from the date the injury occurred or one year from the date when the patient could reasonably be expected to know that he or she had a legitimate medical malpractice case. However, there are exceptions if you did not know you had a case. If you have been injured or a loved one has died as a result of medical error, contact qualified Florida attorneys to find out whether you can still seek legal help.

Healthcare professionals have no legal obligation to be right in their diagnosis. Therefore, even if you have been injured or a loved one has been killed due to medical error, your attorney will need to prove that the doctor failed to take reasonable measures to ensure a proper diagnosis. If a healthcare professional fails to order the right tests, fails to obtain a medical history, or fails to recognize the symptoms of an illness, then a misdiagnosis may be considered negligence.

If you or someone you love has suffered personal injury due to medical error or misdiagnosis, you will need an experienced attorney who can call in expert witnesses in your case and can explain all your options. To get this calibre of help, call The Law Offices of Flaxman & Lopez. We can help you understand how Florida laws affect you and we can help you understand all your legal options. Call 1- 800-535-2962 (1 800 5 FLAXMAN) to arrange for a free, no-obligation consultation.