It is reasonable to assume that your healthcare provider will carefully evaluate your symptoms, request the correct diagnostic tests, ascertain what is wrong, and determine the best course of action.
When something is missed in this process, it can cause significant harm or death. This is especially true when it involves brain tumor misdiagnosis.
According to the National Brain Tumor Society, 700,000 Americans are living with a primary brain tumor, and approximately 182,000 will die of a malignant brain tumor this year.
Unfortunately, many tumors go undiagnosed, which means that they are not treated timely or properly. If you or a loved one had a misdiagnosed brain tumor, you may be entitled to compensation.
Contact the New Mexico medical malpractice lawyers at Poulos & Coates today to schedule a consultation.
Filing a Claim for Brain Tumor Misdiagnosis
A misdiagnosed brain tumor that leads to harm, a worsening condition, or death falls under the legal umbrella of medical malpractice.
Medical malpractice occurs whenever a medical provider or health care institution’s negligent action or inaction causes harm to a patient.
The first step toward financial recovery usually involves determining who was at fault and filing a claim with their insurance company. In many cases, there could be multiple liable parties.
These parties could include:
- A primary care physician,
- A healthcare specialist,
- A nurse or nurse practitioner,
- Diagnostic laboratories or technicians, and
- A hospital, clinic, or other health care facility.
Essentially, anyone involved in providing care for your specific symptoms or condition could have potentially made an error that resulted in brain tumor misdiagnosis.
It is important to fully understand the responsibilities of these parties and where mistakes were made that led to the misdiagnosed brain tumor.
How to Prove Brain Tumor Misdiagnosis
The most important component of proving your medical malpractice claim is determining that substandard care was provided. The standard of care for a medical professional is defined as that which would have been provided by a similarly situated professional.
For example, if, based on your symptoms, most doctors would have ordered a specific diagnostic test but yours didn’t, then your doctor failed to achieve a reasonable standard of care and should be liable for the harm.
Here are some preventable errors that could lead to misdiagnosis:
- Failing to record a full patient history;
- Failing to perform a thorough physical examination;
- Failing to include brain tumor or brain cancer in the potential diagnosis;
- Failing to order appropriate tests in response to patient symptoms;
- Failing to properly administer diagnostic tests;
- Failing to properly interpret the results of the tests; and
- Failing to consult with specialists, such as oncologists, when symptoms are present.
If your misdiagnosis does not fall into one of these categories, you may still have a medical malpractice claim.
Consulting a Medical Malpractice Attorney in New Mexico Today
The medical malpractice attorneys at Poulos & Coates works exclusively on medical malpractice cases like yours. Our trial lawyers have more than 70 years of experience in this area of law.
We understand the complexities of the New Mexico legal system and are dedicated to helping you receive the compensation you deserve.
Contact us to schedule your case consultation.
Victor Poulos
Vic Poulos & Greig Coates became law partners in April of 2002, when the two medical malpractice litigators merged their offices, combining what is now over seventy years of litigation experience, to form Poulos & Coates, LLP. Licensed to practice before all State Courts of Texas, New Mexico, Iowa, and Kansas. Licensed to practice before the United States District Courts of Kansas, Iowa, New Mexico, and Texas (Western, Eastern, Southern, and Northern Districts of Texas), as well as the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the U.X. Ax Court.
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