Breast cancer is one of the deadliest diseases in the United States. About 1 in 8 women will develop breast cancer in their lifetime. Breast cancer death rates are higher than most other types of cancer, second only to lung cancer. In 2018, experts estimate doctors will diagnose around 266,000 new cases of invasive breast cancer. Early diagnosis and intervention is key to improving the survival rates of breast cancer. If you experienced a delay in treatment because of a breast cancer misdiagnosis, you might be wondering if you have legal grounds for a suit. Like other cancers, early treatment for breast cancer is essential to survival rates. If a medical professional’s negligence delayed your treatment, you should consider bringing your case to an experienced Fort Lauderdale malpractice attorney.
While every case is different, the following necessitate a meeting with a medical malpractice attorney:
You Believe Your Doctor Committed Medical Malpractice
If you think your doctor was negligent in diagnosing your breast cancer, you may be able to pursue a medical malpractice claim. These claims require proving four elements:
- Your provider owed you a duty of care. This duty is implicit in any doctor/patient relationship; it’s not among casual acquaintances.
- Your provider breached their duty of care. In legal terms, physicians breach their duty of care when they fail to do something that another competent professional of similar training would have done. In this example, another medical professional would have diagnosed your breast cancer and possibly sooner.
- This breach led to your injuries. In this case, it lead to a worse health outcome. Unfortunately, in some cases, a disease might progress to the point where it no longer responds to conventional treatment.
- You incurred damages as a result. Examples of damages include medical bills, pain, suffering, and lost wages.
Your Sought a Second Opinion That Was Different
One of the easiest ways to see if your provider committed medical malpractice is to seek a second opinion from another provider. If they successfully identified your cancer, then it’s possible that your healthcare provider’s failure to diagnose is negligence. It’s important to note, however, that these professionals should be of the same specialty and of similar training.
You Spoke to a Medical Malpractice Attorney
If you believe your breast cancer became worse because of a delay in diagnosis, then you may be able to collect damages for negligence. One of the best ways to know if you have a case is to schedule a free initial consultation with a personal injury attorney. Fort Lauderdale personal injury attorneys at Kelley/ Uustal have in-depth knowledge and experience dealing with medical malpractice cases. We’ve won millions in settlements and court judgments for our clients. A medical malpractice attorney can help identify whether malpractice occurred by talking to other medical experts in a similar field. If they would have made the diagnosis in the same circumstances, this is often a red flag for negligence.
