Failure to Diagnose

One of the more common forms of medical malpractice is the outright failure to diagnose a condition. Some of the more commonly misdiagnosed conditions are hypertension and diabetes. More than 15 million cases of hypertension and 5.7 million diabetes cases have yet to be diagnosed. The failure to diagnose other conditions such as heart attack, lung, breast or colon cancer, and appendicitis can lead to serious deterioration in the patient’s condition as well as significant medical expense.

Failure to diagnose medical conditions can seriously jeopardize a person’s health and wellness. When a doctor or healthcare provider fails to diagnose a medical condition, this is a form of medical malpractice. Our medical malpractice attorneys can help you sort through the complexities of a medical malpractice case and receive compensation for your injuries and expenses.

If you or a loved one has suffered an injury due to failure to diagnose a medical condition, it is important that you contact us as soon as possible to evaluate your claim. Our firm has handled cases in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, and other surrounding Illinois counties. Every claim has a statute of limitations, which will bar the case if not filed before it expires.

The information provided on this website does not constitute legal advice nor does it constitute an attorney client agreement. You are not considered a client until we have accepted your case and a retainer agreement is signed. Please read our full disclaimer.

Delayed Diagnosis

Many medical malpractice claims arise when doctors or other care providers fail to follow standard procedures, and that failure causes a serious injury. The majority of malpractice cases arise from misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis of diseases and illnesses such as cancer. When serious illnesses are not diagnosed quickly, the delay can cause debilitating injuries, and sometimes death.

Common causes: Not all delayed diagnoses of cancer are grounds for legal action. However, delays almost always reduce success rates in patients with cancer, and can eliminate some treatment options that are only available with early detection. Delayed cancer diagnoses are often caused by:

• Failure to identify the symptoms of disease
• Improper blood or body tissue testing
• Failure to order tests necessary to confirm or rule out disease
• Error in reading test results
• Failure to promptly refer the patient to a specialist for appropriate testing
• Failure to begin required treatment or prescribe necessary medication before disease becomes untreatable

A lawsuit will never restore health or bring back a lost loved one. However, our medical malpractice attorneys feel we can help to improve the quality of medical care by holding medical professionals accountable for their actions. If you or a family member has a serious injury that you suspect resulted from a missed or delayed diagnosis, contact us to learn more about your legal rights and how to protect yourself. Check www.cancer.org for more information about cancer diagnoses.

Medical malpractice include, but are not limited to the following: Failure to diagnose cancer, improper diagnosis, surgical injuries, medication errors, failure to deliver timely, brain injuries, hypoxia injuries and many other types of medial malpractice. If you or a loved one has suffered an injury due to a mistaken or untimely diagnosis, it is important that you contact us as soon as possible to evaluate your claim. Our firm has handled cases in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, and other surrounding Illinois counties. Every claim has a statute of limitations, which will bar the case if not filed before it expires.

Celebrity Cases of Medical Malpractice

Medical malpractice is a risk to anyone who seeks treatment or other procedures–even celebrities. Those injured by negligent health care providers and the families of those killed can seek compensation with the help of an attorney.

The following celebrities have been victims of medical negligence and their families have sought retribution in highly publicized cases over the last decade:

Michael Jackson – This is the most famous case of medical malpractice in recent years. While most know that Michael died of a drug overdose, his estate sued Dr. Conrad Murray for medical malpractice–in particular, for prescribing and administering to him excessive and unnecessary amounts of a drug called propofol, and for failing to call 911 immediately.

During Murray’s criminal trial versus the state, a cardiologist testified that had Murray reported the emergency immediately, Michael Jackson could have been saved. Murray was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and is currently serving a four-year prison term. Please read our full disclaimer.

John Ritter – In 2003, actor John Ritter died of an aortic dissection. His widow alleged that the tear in his artery had been misdiagnosed at least twice before, and should have been discovered in an X-ray. She sued the California hospital responsible, eventually arriving at a settlement.

Donda West – Rapper Kanye West’s mother died in 2007 after suffering complications from cosmetic surgery. Afterwards, it was discovered that her surgeon, Dr. Jan Adams, had been sued twice before for medical malpractice and settled both times and had also faced personal criminal legal troubles relating to drunk driving and DUIs.

Consult an attorney if you or a loved one were a victim of medical malpractice in Chicago

The Reality of Prescription Drug Errors

A 2006 report by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) found medication errors occur at all levels of use in the United States, fatally harming several thousand individuals and causing injury or illness to approximately 1.5 million people every year, 400,000 of which occur in hospitals and 800,000 in nursing and long-term care facilities. An adverse drug event (ADE), or injury caused by a drug, is considered preventable when associated with a medication error. Medication use among Americans continues to increase and is at an all-time high. In fact, approximately nine in 10 adults and five in nine children take at least one prescription medication every month, and many take more than one. Children fall frequent victim to ADEs. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 70,000 unintentional medication overdoses occur annually among children under age 18.

Why do medication errors occur?

Common causes of medication errors and ADEs include:

Incorrect prescription – A physician prescribes the wrong medication or his or her handwriting is misread, such as in cases of similarly named drugs (Celebrex/Cerebyx, Adderall/Inderal, etc.).
Incorrect dosage – The physician miswrites or the pharmacist misreads the dosage, inadvertently prescribing too much or not enough of a medication.
Prescription filled incorrectly – A pharmacist or technician fills a prescription with the wrong medication.
Failure to recognize dangerous drug interactions – A physician prescribes a drug that is known to interact harmfully with another drug the patient takes.
Failure to include proper instructions for use – Such as taking a medication on a full stomach or avoiding alcohol while on a particular drug.
To learn more about prescription errors and medical malpractice in Chicago, consult a lawyer.

Mismedication? Stevens Johnson Syndrome
and Drug Complications

What is Stevens Johnson Syndrome?

Stevens Johnson Syndrome, or SJS, and the similar Toxic Epidermal Necrosis (TEN) are extremely painful skin conditions–often triggered by a reaction to a medication–in which layers of skin separate from each other and eventually die. SJS also affects eyes and vision, and can perforate the corneas and lead to long-term blindness and eye pain. Some with SJS suffer organ failure as a lasting result, while those with the most serious cases could even lose their lives.

Why do SJS and TEN occur?

Stevens Johnson Syndrome can occur due to infection or genetics. But it’s usually an allergic reaction resulting from using a particular medication–often an antibiotic or a drug in the sulfanomide group. SJS and TEN due to medication reaction are impossible to predict. But when a medication has potential adverse drug effects (ADEs), it is important for prescribing doctors to recognize when symptoms of those effects appear on a patient.

Stevens Johnson Syndrome, or SJS, and the similar Toxic Epidermal Necrosis (TEN) are extremely painful skin conditions–often triggered by a reaction to a medication–in which layers of skin separate from each other and eventually die. The condition is said to feel like the sufferer is burning from the inside out–blisters first form under the skin and eventually turn into a rash that appears on the entire body, including in the mouth and genitals–and the cells eventually die (known as necrosis). SJS also affects eyes and vision, and can perforate the corneas and lead to long-term blindness and eye pain. Some with SJS suffer organ failure as a lasting result, while those with the most serious cases could even lose their lives.

Why do SJS and TEN occur?

Stevens Johnson Syndrome can occur due to infection or genetics. But it’s usually an allergic reaction resulting from using a particular medication–often an antibiotic or a drug in the sulfanomide group. SJS and TEN due to medication reaction are impossible to predict. But when a medication has potential adverse drug effects (ADEs), it is important for prescribing doctors to recognize when symptoms of those effects appear on a patient.

In the case of SJS and TEN, the early phases of the conditions often appear flu-like and include:

-Fatigue

-Fever

-Sore throat

Many physicians send patients home with flu symptoms, occasionally prescribing an antibiotic. Eventually the blisters and other lesions begin and the patient then requires hospitalization.

Malpractice cases related to SJS and TEN can arise particularly if there is an unnecessary delay in diagnosis or treatment, or if the medication that caused the SJS caused a prior ADE in the patient. A Chicago attorney can assess your case.