Chicago Failure to Diagnose Cancer
Cancer must be diagnosed quickly and early in order to give a patient the best chance at a successful treatment and full recovery. Yet much too frequently, healthcare providers fail to accurately diagnose cancer, and the cancer spreads to the point that a patient cannot receive successful treatment. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 1.6 million people are diagnosed with cancer every year in the United States, and approximately 600,000 people die from cancer annually. Those numbers mean that cancer is the second-leading cause of death in the U.S., and many of these cancers could be treated if they had been detected earlier.
If you were diagnosed with cancer after another healthcare provider failed to accurately diagnose your disease, an experienced Chicago failure to diagnose cancer lawyer can speak with you today about options for filing a lawsuit.
Healthcare Providers in Chicago Who May Be Liable for Failure to Diagnose Cancer
Many different types of healthcare providers may be liable for the failure to diagnose cancer, from a family physician who fails to acknowledge signs of cancer and to recommend a specialist to a radiologist who misreads a test result. The specific party or parties who may be liable will depend on the particular facts of your case but may include:
- Physician, including a general practitioner;
- Specialist such as a gynecologist, gastroenterologist, or dermatologist;
- Radiologist;
- Oncologist;
- Laboratory where diagnostic tests were performed;
- Laboratory technician;
- Ultrasound, MRI, CT scan, or other technician; or
- Healthcare facility where a missed diagnosis occurred.
Timeline for a Failure to Diagnose Cancer Claim in Chicago
Illinois law requires that medical malpractice lawsuits be filed in a timely manner. The statute of limitations for a medical malpractice lawsuit is two years. However, the date when the “clock” on that statute of limitations starts “ticking” will depend in part upon when the patient knew or should have known about the doctor’s error.
In many medical malpractice lawsuits, that clock starts ticking at the time of the negligent act or omission, and the patient has two years from that date to file a lawsuit. Yet in many medical malpractice claims for failure to diagnose cancer, the clock starts ticking on the date that the patient discovered the original healthcare provider’s failure to diagnose cancer. In other words, the statute of limitations is often extended in these cases. While there is still a two-year timeline, that timeline begins on the date the patient learned about the failure to diagnose or reasonably should have realized the original provider’s error. In these cases, the lawsuit still must be filed within eight years from the date that the negligent act or omission occurred.
Contact Our Chicago Failure to Diagnose Cancer Attorneys
When a physician, surgeon, other specialist, or laboratory fails to diagnose cancer, it is critical to learn more about filing a medical malpractice lawsuit. Contact Wais, Vogelstein, Forman, Koch & Norman, LLC today for more information about suing a healthcare provider for the failure to diagnose cancer.
