Delay in Diagnosis

Many serious types of illness, such as cancer, heart disease, infections, blood clots, and meningitis, can be treated successfully if they are detected early enough. But when a doctor does not detect or diagnose these illnesses in a timely manner, or delays in detecting them, the consequences can be dire, and it may be too late for treatment. Failure to diagnose and delay in diagnosis, are types of medical negligence, and can be a matter of life and death.

Many different medical professionals can be involved in a delay in diagnosis case: ER doctors, radiologists or pathologists, obstetricians or gynecologists, general physicians, specialists, and nursing staff. A missed diagnosis can be the result of inadequate health screening, the misidentification of malignant tumors as benign, or tests or biopsies that are inaccurately read. Delayed diagnosis can occur when a doctor does not refer the patient to a specialist for more tests, doesn’t take a patient’s complaints seriously, or attributes them to another health problem.