Diagnosis failures happen regularly across Florida when a doctor, hospital, urgent care, emergency room, or other medical provider misses a serious condition, diagnoses the wrong problem, delays the correct diagnosis, or fails to order the tests needed to understand what is really happening.
These types of mistakes can affect patients of any age, in any health condition, even at the best healthcare facilities in the state.
Diagnostic errors include missed, delayed, and wrong diagnoses, as well as failures to properly communicate a diagnosis to the patient or family. Because the diagnostic process often depends on ordering the right test, collecting the sample correctly, interpreting the result, and communicating the result in time, testing problems are a major part of the issue.
Symptoms That May Require Further Testing
Patients should not ignore symptoms that are new, severe, worsening, or unusual. While these symptoms do not always mean something serious is happening, they may be warning signs that additional testing is needed.
Possible symptoms that may require further testing include:
- Chest pain, pressure, or tightness.
- Shortness of breath.
- Sudden weakness, numbness, confusion, or trouble speaking.
- Severe headache, especially if sudden or unusual.
- Dizziness, fainting, or loss of consciousness.
- Severe abdominal pain.
- Unexplained fever or signs of infection.
- Persistent vomiting or diarrhea.
- Blood in vomit, stool, urine, or coughing.
- Unexplained weight loss.
- Extreme fatigue or weakness.
- New or worsening pain after surgery.
- Swelling, redness, warmth, or pain in one leg.
- Vision changes.
- Seizures.
- Severe back pain with numbness, weakness, or bladder problems.
- A lump, mass, or abnormal growth.
- Unusual bleeding.
- Worsening pregnancy symptoms or reduced fetal movement.
- Symptoms that do not improve despite treatment.
Conditions That Can Be Worsened By Failure to Order Tests
Medical providers are expected to use their training, the patient’s symptoms, medical history, risk factors, physical exam, and clinical judgment to determine which tests are needed. The results of the tests are crucial for establishing the condition and what treatments are necessary.
Examples of tests that may be needed include blood tests, X-rays, CT scans, MRIs, ultrasounds, EKGs, cardiac enzyme tests, cultures, biopsies, urinalysis, spinal taps, pregnancy-related testing, neurological testing, and specialist evaluations.
Failure to order testing can be dangerous when a patient has symptoms of a heart attack, stroke, cancer, infection, blood clot, internal bleeding, organ damage, surgical complication, or serious pregnancy-related condition.
How Medical Malpractice Can Lead to Failure to Order Tests
Medical malpractice may occur when a provider fails to meet the accepted standard of care and the patient is harmed as a result. In failure to order proper testing cases, malpractice may involve:
- Failing to order necessary blood tests, imaging, cultures, biopsies, or other diagnostic tests.
- Ignoring serious symptoms or red flags.
- Misreading X-rays, CT scans, MRIs, ultrasounds, lab results, or pathology reports.
- Failing to follow up on abnormal test results.
- Failing to communicate test results to the patient.
- Failing to refer the patient to a specialist.
- Sending a patient home too soon from the emergency room or hospital.
- Diagnosing a patient without performing a proper exam.
- Blaming symptoms on anxiety, stress, age, weight, or minor illness without enough evaluation.
- Failing to consider a patient’s medical history or risk factors.
- Failing to monitor symptoms after surgery or childbirth.
- Failing to repeat testing when symptoms worsen.
- Losing test results or failing to document important findings.
- Failing to create a proper follow-up plan.
Failure to Order Proper Tests FAQs
Is failure to order proper tests medical malpractice?
Failure to order proper tests may be medical malpractice if a reasonably careful provider would have ordered those tests under the same circumstances. For example, if a patient has symptoms of a heart attack, stroke, infection, blood clot, cancer, or internal injury, the provider may need to order specific tests to rule out specific dangerous conditions.
If the provider ignores warning signs, skips necessary testing, and the patient suffers as a result because of the delay, the patient may have a malpractice claim. The facts matter, so the medical records usually need to be reviewed by qualified experts.
What types of tests are commonly missed?
Commonly missed tests may include blood work, imaging studies, cardiac testing, infection testing, biopsies, urine tests, pregnancy-related tests, neurological testing, and specialist evaluations. In some cases, the issue is not that no test was ordered, but that the wrong test was ordered or the result was not followed up on.
For example, a patient may need a CT scan instead of a basic X-ray, or a biopsy instead of continued observation. Diagnostic errors can also happen when providers fail to repeat testing after symptoms worsen.
What conditions are commonly involved in diagnosis failure cases?
Diagnosis failure cases may involve cancer, heart attacks, strokes, infections, sepsis, blood clots, meningitis, fractures, internal bleeding, surgical complications, pregnancy complications, birth injuries, spinal cord problems, appendicitis, bowel obstruction, kidney problems, and neurological disorders.
These conditions can be dangerous because even slight delays can allow the problem to worsen. In many cases, early testing and treatment can improve the patient’s outcome. When a provider misses obvious warning signs or fails to order appropriate tests, the delay may cause avoidable harm.
What if the doctor ordered some tests, but not the right ones?
That may still be considered a case of medical malpractice. When providing care, medical teams often narrow down possible causes through various tests. If the chosen tests were not enough to rule out a serious condition, but the delay harmed the patient, the care may need to be reviewed.
For example, a basic test may not be enough when symptoms suggest cancer, stroke, blood clot, heart damage, or internal bleeding. The issue is whether the testing plan was reasonable.
Can a delayed diagnosis cause permanent injury?
Absolutely. A delayed diagnosis can cause permanent injury when the missed condition worsens before treatment begins. A delayed stroke diagnosis can lead to permanent and life-altering brain damage. A missed infection can become sepsis.
A delayed cancer diagnosis can allow the disease to spread. A missed blood clot can become a pulmonary embolism. A missed surgical complication can lead to organ damage or death. The longer a serious condition goes untreated, the greater the risk of permanent harm. However, proving a case requires showing that an earlier diagnosis likely would have improved the outcome.
What evidence is important in a diagnosis failure case?
Medical records, test results, imaging reports, discharge papers, referral notes, prescription records, appointment records, phone messages, patient portal messages, and witness statements from the patient or family are crucial.
It’s also important to know which symptoms were reported, when, what the provider did in response, and whether abnormal results were followed up on. In many cases, medical experts must review the records to determine whether the provider should have ordered more tests or made a different diagnosis sooner.
What compensation may be available after a failure to refer?
Compensation depends on the facts of the case and the severity of harm caused by the delay. A patient may be able to seek damages for medical bills, future medical care, lost income, reduced earning ability, pain and suffering, disability, emotional distress, and loss of enjoyment of life.
In cases involving children, damages may include long-term treatment, therapy, educational support, assistive care, and future medical needs. If the patient dies, surviving family members may have a wrongful death claim. An experienced medical malpractice firm like Weisser Law can realistically evaluate what damages may apply and how much your case is truly worth.
Why should patients contact Weisser Law if they suspect medical malpractice played a role?
If a patient believes a diagnostic error or failure to order appropriate tests caused serious harm, they should contact the award-winning team at Weisser Law today. Our team has won millions of dollars for victims of medical malpractice across Florida. Weisser Law can review the timeline of your case, gather medical records, work with qualified medical experts, and determine the fair value of your case.