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Chicago Medical Malpractice Attorneys > Chicago Laboratory Error Attorney

Chicago Laboratory Error Attorney

Patients should be able to trust that the information their physician or specialist receives from a laboratory following a diagnostic test is reliable and is not tainted as a result of a laboratory error. Yet laboratory mistakes can happen, and patients can receive false negatives on certain types of tests, which can lead to missed diagnoses or delayed diagnoses and other types of harm. It is important to do everything you can to hold the laboratory accountable when a lab error results in a serious injury.

An experienced Chicago laboratory error attorney at our firm can help you with your case. Do not hesitate to get in touch with our firm to learn more about how we can assist you.

What is a Chicago Laboratory Error?

How are laboratory errors defined, and who is most often liable for injuries resulting from a lab mistake? According to an article in the peer-reviewed journal Laboratory Medicine, a laboratory error is “any defect from ordering tests to reporting and interpretation of results.” Common types of laboratory mistakes include but are not limited to the following:

  • Mistakes in order the appropriate test based on the patient’s symptoms, or the patient’s medical history;
  • Error in collecting the specimen for testing by the laboratory;
  • Specimen identification error, meaning that the specimen is misidentified as belonging to another patient;
  • Error in the transport of the specimen, which can be a “specimen integrity” issue;
  • Error in the processing of the specimen;
  • Poor quality or negligence in processing the specimen at the laboratory;
  • Verification error;
  • Mistake in the transmission of the patient’s test results; or
  • Error interpreting the test results.

Filing a Lawsuit for Laboratory Errors in Chicago and Delayed Diagnosis or Misdiagnosis

Many laboratory mistakes result in a patient being improperly diagnosed with a serious condition. To be sure, since many laboratory tests are conducted to determine whether a patient has cancer or another serious condition, a lab mistake can result in the patient receiving a different diagnosis and the actual condition worsening significantly.

When you have an injury because of a laboratory error, you will need to make sure to file your lawsuit before the two-year medical malpractice statute of limitations runs out. While many medical negligence claims have a statute of limitations clock that will start to tick on the date of the error, laboratory mistake claims that result in a delayed diagnosis must be filed within two years from the time that the patient knew or should have known about the error.

Contact Our Chicago Laboratory Error Attorneys Today

If you were harmed because of a laboratory error, you could be able to file a medical negligence claim. Laboratory errors can have various causes, and many of those causes include human error. If a laboratory technician failed to properly complete a test or made a mistake in conducting a laboratory analysis, that laboratory technician, the laboratory where the error occurred, or the physician responsible for collecting the specimen and ordering the test may be liable for your injuries. Do not hesitate to get in touch with one of our experienced Chicago laboratory error lawyers for more information. Contact Wais, Vogelstein, Forman, Koch & Norman, LLC today to find out about filing a medical negligence lawsuit in Illinois.

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