Arlington Heights Delayed Diagnosis Attorneys

Lawyers for Professional Negligence and Medical Malpractice in Cook County and Lake County, IL

When you go to a doctor with a health concern, it is your right to assume that the doctor will use his or her years of education and intensive training to diagnose your problem and to start treating the issue in accordance with prevailing medical standards. In some cases, however, the doctor may ignore certain symptoms or fail to order necessary tests. As a result, your diagnosis could be delayed for an unreasonable length of time-during which your condition may worsen, possibly to the point of being fatal.

At Newland & Newland, LLP, we understand that a delayed diagnosis can dramatically affect your health and the quality of your life. When a diagnosis is unreasonably delayed, the necessary treatment is also likely to be delayed, and you could suffer serious negative effects. If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with a condition that you feel should have been caught sooner, our attorneys can help you explore your options for taking legal action.

When a Delayed Diagnosis Becomes Medical Malpractice

There is no question that modern medicine is unimaginably complex. There are countless factors and variables at play in any situation, and the number of potential issues is in the tens of thousands. For these reasons, doctors must undergo years of directed education and clinical experience to hone their skills. The attorneys at Newland & Newland, LLP recognize that diagnosing a complicated condition can be challenging under any circumstances, and a delayed diagnosis does not always mean that malpractice has occurred. However, when the care you receive is not up to the prevailing standards for that doctor's area of practice, he or she may be considered negligent.

Under Illinois law, the standard of care in a medical malpractice case is defined as "the same degree of knowledge, skill, and ability as an ordinary careful professional would exercise under similar circumstances." If an average professional in your doctor's specialty would have followed the same testing protocols and reach a similar conclusion as your doctor did, you probably do not have a case for malpractice for a delayed diagnosis. However, if a professional with similar experience and training would have done things differently or reached a diagnosis sooner, your doctor could be found liable.

Delayed Diagnosis and Compensation

At Newland & Newland, LLP, we realize that the damage caused by a delayed diagnosis can be relatively minor in many cases. For example, if you go to the doctor with a cold, and your doctor fails to diagnose strep throat until you return a week later, you may have suffered unnecessarily for a few extra days, but the damage is unlikely to be lasting. In other cases, however, a delayed diagnosis can allow a condition like kidney disease, heart disease, or cancer to progress to the point where they become incurable.

If you believe that a delayed diagnosis was caused by your doctor's carelessness or negligence, our attorneys can help you build a case for collecting compensation. You may be entitled to receive damages for:

• Medical treatment made necessary by the delayed diagnosis;
• Lost wages for time away from work;
• Diminished quality of your life;
• Your pain and suffering; and
• Wrongful death.

We will not be intimidated or fooled into backing down or accepting a settlement that fails to address both your current and long-term needs. If necessary, our lawyers are not afraid to take your case to litigation to secure the compensation you deserve.

Call 847-797-8000 Today

To learn more about the dangers of a delayed diagnosis or medical malpractice in general, contact our office. Call 847-797-8000 for a free, no-obligation consultation at Newland & Newland, LLP today. With five locations throughout Northern Illinois, we serve clients in Arlington Heights, Rolling Meadows, Schaumburg, Long Grove, Mount Prospect, Des Plaines, Palatine, Wheeling, Buffalo Grove, Lake County, DuPage County, Cook County, and the surrounding areas.