Jacksonville Attorneys Hold Physicians Responsible For Injury Caused By Delayed Diagnosis

Representing Clients Failed By Physicians’ Untimely Actions

Many medical malpractice suits stem from a physician’s failure to diagnose an illness in a timely manner, and there’s a good reason: A delayed diagnosis can have serious repercussions, making the treatment you eventually receive less effective than it should have been—or too late to be effective at all. If a physician has delayed diagnosing your condition, and that delay exacerbated it or caused further injury, you have every right to file for damages.

At Fallgatter Catlin & Varon, P.A., our medical malpractice attorneys in Jacksonville have more than 80 years of combined experience representing Floridians failed by the medical establishment. We know that not all physician errors constitute malpractice, but when evidence exists that a doctor’s negligence worsened an already existing condition or led to other injuries, we fight for your right to be compensated, for your medical costs, lost wages, and other associated expenses.

The Consequences Of Delayed Diagnoses

To prove malpractice, we must show that the physician or other medical professional treating you was negligent by failing to meet an acceptable standard of care — one that a similarly trained doctor under the same circumstances would have provided. We must first establish that:

• A doctor-patient relationship exists.
• The doctor who treated you was negligent in his or her care.
• That negligence harmed you.

And a delayed diagnosis can prove just as harmful as a wrong diagnosis or a failure to diagnose.

Diagnosis is not an exact science; depending on your symptoms, a doctor often must rule out other possible reasons for your illness and verify a preliminary diagnosis through X-rays, CT scans and MRIs, and blood and urine tests, among other diagnostic tests. But if your symptoms strongly suggest a cancer known for spreading rapidly, for instance, and your physician fails to diagnose it as soon as possible, your chances at full recovery are lessened—a delay in treatment lessens the efficacy of your treatment, and you may have to undergo a much more difficult treatment, with a poorer outcome, as a result.

If a physician failed to arrive at the correct diagnosis in a timely manner, whether he or she failed to order the right tests from the beginning, ordered tests but delayed in getting their results, or knew further testing was warranted but failed to order it, we can hold that physician accountable for damages to compensate you for the injury or illness that resulted. If this has happened to you or a loved one, it’s also important that you don’t delay seeking help from an experienced legal team, since time is of the essence in a Florida medical malpractice suit.

Contact Us For Help With Your Medical Malpractice Claim

At Fallgatter Catlin & Varon, P.A., our Jacksonville personal injury attorneys have the skills, access to medical experts and experience to handle even the most complex medical malpractice cases, including those stemming from a delayed diagnosis. Contact us online or call our office today at (904) 353-5800 for a free consultation with one of our medical malpractice attorneys. There are no fees unless we succeed.*

• In some cases, clients will be asked to pay the costs associated with providing services. These costs, which will be fully explained, never include fees for a lawyer’s time.

Medical malpractice takes various forms. The following represent some of the more common types of medical malpractice:

Birth Injuries Infections resulting from treatment Improper operation of medical devices Restraint injuries Errors in blood transfusion Inaccurate x-ray readings Surgery performed on the wrong organ or limb

Surgical errors Pressure ulcers Over-medication Improper medication Failure to diagnose Wrong diagnosis