Delayed Diagnosis Attorney in Rochester

For more than three decades, the attorneys of Powers & Santola, LLP, have fought for justice on behalf of clients who suffered serious injury or the loss of a loved one due to medical malpractice, including cases involving the delayed diagnosis of a medical condition. Several of our attorneys have been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America for their excellence in the field of medical malpractice law, and our firm has been noted as one of the “Best Law Firms” in this practice area.

If you believe that you or a loved one has suffered harm due to a delayed diagnosis, we will listen to you, review your medical records, thoroughly investigate what happened and consult with highly knowledgeable medical professionals about your case. If we move forward together, our attorneys will work tirelessly to pursue full and fair compensation for you and your family. To learn more, contact us today to discuss your case in a free and confidential consultation through our conveniently located Rochester office.

Any medical condition can be subject to a delayed diagnosis by a medical professional. Some of the common causes of delayed diagnosis that our law firm’s attorneys see include:

• Failure to diagnose cancer
• Failure to diagnose an infection or other bacterial or viral disease
• Misdiagnosis of symptoms and warning signs of imminent heart attack or stroke
• Failure to diagnose deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism
• Failure to diagnose appendicitis, liver failure or kidney failure
• Failure to identify suicidal tendencies or ideation.

The attorneys of Powers & Santola, LLP, have represented numerous clients in cases which involved diagnostic errors, including:

• An $11.6 million verdict in a case in which the doctor failed to properly interpret and report a CT scan, and in turn, caused the patient to suffer a stroke that left him permanently disabled. (It is the largest verdict in Warren County history and believed to be the largest in the history of New York’s 11-county Fourth Judicial District.)
• A $4 million recovery in a case in which an emergency department physician failed to diagnose a subarachnoid hemorrhage caused by a leaking aneurysm after the patient had complained of the sudden onset of “the worst headache of my life.” The patient suffered permanent brain damage as a result of the diagnostic error.
• A $2.1 million recovery in a case in which a radiology group failed to properly communicate to an oncologist the findings of a destructive lesion on a CT scan of the patient’s spine. This failure caused a two-week delay in the diagnosis and surgical treatment of the patient’s spinal lesion. Due to the delay, the patient suffered severe compression of his spinal cord and permanently lost sensation in both of his legs.

Every diagnostic error case is different. They involve different facts and circumstances. Many cases present highly complex legal issues. For a review of the specific details of your case, contact our Rochester office today.

As with all personal injury claims, the potential damages for a legal claim based on a delayed diagnosis include:

• Medical expenses – A patient may recover all reasonable and necessary past and future medical expenses caused by the delayed diagnosis. For instance, you may be eligible to recover medical expenses incurred for treatment that would not have been required if a doctor had timely diagnosed your condition.
• Loss of earnings or earning capacity – Similarly, if the complications caused by a delayed diagnosis keep you out of work for a long period, or if your diminished physical or mental capacity prevents you from earning the same income you earned previously, then you may be entitled to recover those lost earnings.
• Pain and suffering – If your delayed diagnosis causes pain and suffering above and beyond what you would have experienced if your condition had been timely diagnosed, you may be entitled to recover damages for that pain and suffering.
• Loss of enjoyment of life – A delayed diagnosis causes may lead to complications that reduce the quality of your life. For instance, you may be unable to perform the same activities as you did before.
• Loss of consortium – The patient is not the only one who suffers due to a delayed diagnosis. The patient’s spouse may suffer harm as well such as losing the patient’s care, services, and companionship.

If a delayed diagnosis causes the wrongful death of a loved one, the attorneys of Powers & Santola, LLP, will pursue different types of damages on behalf of eligible surviving family members. Those damages may include funeral and burial expenses as well as the loss of support, assistance, and possible inheritance.