Medical Malpractice Lawyer: Understanding Delayed Diagnsosis in Texas

A delay in diagnosis in Texas can be especially dangerous to a patient suffering from a severe health condition because of the need for early and aggressive treatment. Unfortunately, delayed diagnoses happen far too often in medicine for many reasons, some of which are not due to a healthcare provider’s negligence. It is important to note that the medical standard of care a doctor must adhere to is far different than the normal standard of care for other individuals.

CONSEQUENCES OF A DELAYED DIAGNOSIS IN TEXAS

A delayed diagnosis can directly impact a patient’s treatment and chance of recovering from a condition. For many conditions, the earlier they are diagnosed, the better chance a patient has to recover or survive due to the correct and timely treatment.

An untimely diagnosis could also lead to the health condition spreading to other parts of a patient’s body or more complications. Additionally, a delayed diagnosis could cause a medical professional to overlook symptoms or prevent action on an abnormal or unique test result, which could make the difference in saving a patient. When a medical team does not diagnose a condition in a timely manner, incorrect treatments might be used, thereby resulting in additional dangers to a patient. When a medical professional fails to timely identify a treatable condition, a patient could suffer significant and irreversible harm.

PROVING DELAYED DIAGNOSIS AS MEDICAL MALPRACTICE IN TEXAS

For a delayed diagnosis to result in medical malpractice, it must be more than a common mistake that many doctors would make under the circumstances. There are several elements that must be proven for a patient to establish medical malpractice from a delayed diagnosis. The typical elements include the following:

A doctor/patient relationship existed at the time of the diagnosis
The doctor failed to meet the requirement medical standard of care
The failure to adhere to the medical standard of care caused the delayed diagnosis
The patient suffered harm due to the doctor’s delayed diagnosis

A successful medical malpractice case commonly requires the opinion of another medical professional to help establish the standard of care under the circumstances and show how a reasonably prudent doctor should have acted.