Many misdiagnosis suits focus on what wasn’t done. The doctor thought it was the wrong disease therefore precious time was wasted treating an illness that wasn’t there. Furthermore, the patient endured the side-effects of the medications and treatments associated with that misdiagnosed disease. But there is a second concern, the harm caused by the actual misdiagnosis. If a doctor tells you that you have Alzheimer’s you are likely to find the news crushing, even perhaps to the point of suicide. Thus, misdiagnosis suits develop from two points, the lost time to combat the real disease and the mental anguish from dealing with the misdiagnosed disease.
An Ohio clinic is facing litigation primarily associated with the second prong discussed above. About 50 people are suing a “cognitive disease” clinic for alleged misdiagnosed Alzheimer’s. One of the doctors, a Ph.D., not a medical doctor, is alleged to have misdiagnosed 50 patients with Alzheimer’s. They allege she took advantage of her husband’s medical license to issue medical opinions, steer patients away from medications (that she couldn’t prescribe) and discourage patients from seeking advice from a second opinion.
The sad result is that many people lived with the fear that Alzheimer’s would slowly take their memories. One patient even committed suicide; he was so bereft of hope. His wife later learned, to her dismay, that her husband did not have Alzheimer’s.
Were you the victim of a misdiagnosis? If you were, you should contact a lawyer at your earliest convenience. Even if the misdiagnosis did not result in substantial physical harm (i.e. you are healthy and suffering from no diseases), you could still haven actionable claim. Doctors are required to behave reasonably and to dispense treatment that is comparable to a professional in their position. It is thus natural to believe that a doctor would know if a misdiagnosis would result in severe mental anguish. You are entitled to recover compensation for your mental anguish, no doubt; you may have to seek psychological assistance to deal with the issues that come up when you face the end.
