| Read Time: 2 minutes | Medical Malpractice
failure to diagnose cancer settlements

A cancer diagnosis will change the course of your life.

However, in recent years, medical advancements have enabled doctors to more effectively treat many types of cancer.

These treatments can not only extend the duration and increase the quality of a patient’s life but, in some cases, can eliminate cancer from the body altogether.

However, effective cancer treatment requires a prompt diagnosis, and a doctor’s failure to diagnose cancer can deprive a patient of many treatment options.

If you are looking to file a cancer misdiagnosis lawsuit or want to learn more about failure to diagnose cancer settlements, the Law Offices of Theodore A. Naima can help.

Mr. Naima skillfully represents patients and their families in all types of medical malpractice claims, including those involving a physician’s failure to diagnose cancer.

Contact us today to get started. 

How Does Cancer Misdiagnosis Occur?

With an increased understanding of cancer and advanced medical imaging technology, doctors can detect cancer earlier than ever before.

However, cancer misdiagnoses are still somewhat common.

Below are a few of the most common reasons doctors misdiagnose or fail to diagnose cancer:

  • Failure to order the necessary medical tests,
  • Dismissal of patient’s symptoms, questions or complaints,
  • Failure to refer a patient to an appropriate specialist, and
  • Misreading medical imaging tests such as CT scans and MRIs.

To be sure, not every cancer misdiagnosis is the result of medical malpractice.

However, the fact that a doctor failed to diagnose cancer at least raises the possibility that they were negligent.

Proving a Cancer Misdiagnosis Lawsuit

Cancer misdiagnosis claims are a type of medical malpractice lawsuit.

Thus, to successfully bring this type of claim, a patient must establish the following elements:

  1. A doctor-patient relationship existed,
  2. The doctor breached the duty owed to their patient,
  3. The doctor’s breach of duty resulted in the patient suffering injuries, and
  4. The patient suffered economic or non-economic damages.

In most cases, proving a doctor-patient relationship does not raise a significant hurdle to recovery.

However, establishing the second and third elements of a misdiagnosis of cancer lawsuit is more challenging. 

More specifically, your lawyer will take a deep dive into the facts of your case to pinpoint where and how a doctor failed to provide the standard of care in diagnosing your illness.

Then your attorney will use their knowledge and experience to establish how you were harmed by your doctor’s failure to diagnose.

Thus, patients and surviving family members of loved ones who died of cancer should reach out to an experienced Long Island medical malpractice lawyer for assistance with their claim.

Contact the Law Offices of Theodore A. Naima to Schedule a Free Consultation

If you or a loved one suffered as a result of a cancer misdiagnosis, you might be entitled to compensation.

At the Law Offices of Theodore A. Naima, we proudly represent patients and their families, helping them recover the compensation they need and deserve.

If you want to learn about misdiagnosis of cancer lawsuit settlements or any other type of failure to diagnose cancer settlements, reach out to the Law Offices of Theodore A. Naima today.

You can reach Mr. Naima at 516-908-9940 or through the firm’s online contact form.

Author Photo

Theodore A. Naima

Theodore A. Naima is the founding partner of the Law Offices of Theodore A. Naima, a Personal Injury & Medical Malpractice Law Firm based in New York. In 2015, Ted was awarded the prestigious AV Preeminent® rating from Martindale-Hubbell®, the company that has long been recognized as setting the gold standard for lawyer ratings, signifying the highest degree of peer recognition and professional excellence.