How do I Make a Misdiagnosis Claim?
January 11, 2019
Medical professionals, from medical secretaries to specialists, have a duty of care. But many people are unaware that this is a legal obligation. When doctors let you down in their duty of care, you may inquire with us to make a misdiagnosis claim.
It means that there is legal recourse for those that feel their health has been negatively affected by misdiagnosis. Doctors accept responsibility for their patients. Ergo, failing to diagnose a medical issue accurately can have long-term adverse effects for the misdiagnosed patient.
In those cases, the patient is well within their legal rights to seek advice on making a misdiagnosis claim. If you think that misdiagnosis affects you adversely, here are the essentials you need to be aware of.
Reasons to make a misdiagnosis claim
There are a variety of reasons why you may be considering making a legal claim for misdiagnosis. Be they for private medical treatment or through NHS Trusts, such incorrect diagnosis can affect life expectancy and one’s ability to effectively recover.
The most common reasons for this legal action claims process include:
Treatment Delay
If your illness/personal injury becomes worse due to a time delay on treatment, you can make a misdiagnosis claim.
Incorrect Treatment
A misdiagnosis can mean that you do not receive the right treatment for your injury claims. This can negatively impact your recovery and future health.
Medication Errors
Medication errors, in short, can refer to one of two things. In essence, a patient receives either the wrong medication entirely or the wrong advice on medication amounts.
Incorrect Analysis of Test Results
In some claims, one critical mistake will be the misinterpretation of test results. Ultimately, a wrongful diagnosis can result from this, including prescribing the wrong treatment. From tissue samples to X-rays, smears to biopsies, there are loads of test results that can be misread.
Delayed diagnosis
In short, this type of claim for compensation tackles the inability to act quickly. Usually, delayed diagnosis occurs with cases of cancer that don’t get addressed quickly enough. Accordingly, the delay/inaction inadvertently (but nevertheless, negligently) allows this cancerous situation to metastasize and worsen. Along similar lines, genuine inaction on the part of healthcare professionals might fall under delayed diagnosis.
First steps to make a misdiagnosis claim
Your first step always should be to seek legal advice (preferably, free advice from specialists in this type of law). Once you have done so, you will have a clearer idea of what a lawyer expects from you.
Next, you will need to ensure that you have the relevant documents that prove your case. Gather as much evidence as you can which shows when and where you started receiving your misdiagnosis. You’ll also need to collect as much evidence as possible showing the negative effect on your quality of life.
You should always:
- Keep documents that support any financial impact the misdiagnosis causes;
- Get a formal second medical opinion.
- Keep records of prescriptions and any available statements from doctors and specialists.
There is a specific time limit for medical negligence claims for people believing they have a valid case of misdiagnosis. Usually, you lose the right to make a medical negligence claim after three years of the Date of Knowledge. To be clear, this constitutes the date that you became aware of the issue.
However, age and mental competency will also affect the time whereby you can make your claim.
The financial side on how to make a misdiagnosis claim
It’s challenging to determine precisely how much money you deserve in compensation. That is in addition what costs will fall under the claim that you make. Any damages, ongoing costs, and even expenses can all be claimed for. These can include (but are not limited to):
General damages
This covers any disability, pain, or suffering that has been caused by your misdiagnosis.
Special damages
These will refer to any additional expenses that have occurred due to your misdiagnosis.
Medical expenses
Spent any money on treatment following a misdiagnosis? If so, you can add those expenditures to the total cost of your NHS misdiagnosis compensation.
Travel costs
These costs are often forgotten about in the immediate aftermath of a misdiagnosis. In short, travel costs can play a big part of the negative issues that you face after a misdiagnosis.
Believe that you were subject to a medical misdiagnosis? Moreover, that your life is and/or will suffer a negative impact because of it?
Then you should always start by seeking legal advice. Namely, professional solicitors with experience of making claims against the NHS or private practices. In short, they’ll be able to advise you on the next steps to take and will be able to answer any questions that you have.
No Win No Fee Medical Negligence Claims
What makes TMNE different is that we’ll talk to you about your funding options before you decide to proceed with your application. There are three main types, but the majority of our medical negligence claims are No Win No Fee in nature.
No Win No Fee agreements remove the necessity for you to pay your lawyer in advance of receiving compensation and minimise your exposure to financial risk. Hiring a lawyer privately is expensive, to begin with. In addition, there is no guarantee that any claim will be successful. As a result, you may end up spending thousands of pounds only to lose your case.
With our No Win No Fee medical negligence claims, you can start the process with the confidence that if your claim is not successful, then you won’t suffer financially as a result.
The No Win, No Fee Process
The process is straightforward:
- Your solicitor assesses the strength and merit of your claim. Plus, if they believe it will succeed, they’ll offer to represent you on a No Win No Fee* basis.
- We will help you determine if you have existing cover for legal expenses in your current policies. If not, we’ll help you arrange a specialist After the Event policy to cover costs.
- If you win, your lawyer claims fees back from the other party, and you pay them a success fee. This amount is a percentage of your total compensation award, which you agree on at the beginning of the process.
- However, if your claim loses, your lawyer subsequently waives their legal fees. Plus, your insurance will cover your outstanding legal expenses.
The alternatives to claiming with a No Win No Fee agreement include paying for your lawyer privately. Generally, such firms will calculate their time by the hour.
They can also use an existing insurance policy. Please note this may restrict the solicitors you can work with and the amount of coverage they provide. Apart from a small number of exceptions, Legal Aid is no longer available to help victims of medical negligence.
How we can help you make a misdiagnosis claim
The team of solicitors at The Medical Negligence Experts have extensive experience in representing clients that make a misdiagnosis claim.
Above all, we negotiate and argue on your behalf for the best possible financial outcome. We do that, moreover, by building robust cases that win.
We understand the devastating impact implant negligence can have on our client’s lives. Moreover, we’ll do all we can to help you minimise the ill-effects of your injury and live to your full potential.
We support our clients by:
- Investigating their situation thoroughly to ascertain whether their claim has a good chance of success. The onus is on the claimant to prove negligent care causes their injury, and it can be painful if it fails.
- Collecting and organising evidence to present a solid case to the responsible care provider that supports your claim for compensation, which can also include putting you in contact with the right independent medical experts for their assessment.
- Negotiating an acceptable amount of compensation based on your circumstances, and what has claimants with similar injuries to yours have received in the past.
- Representing you and supporting you should your claim go to court either due to the responsible party disagreeing with the claim, or refusing to pay fair compensation.