Do I have a case?
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Do I have a case?
My doctor told me I had a condition
and when I went to see another
health professional they told me I
never had that condition I had
something more that will be a
lifelong thing .
Asked on January 25, 2019 under Malpractice Law, Michigan
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
Did the misdiagnosis hurt you? That is, did it cause your condition to be materially or significantly worse than it would have been had it been diagnosed properly the first time? If it did not, then there is no cause: the law only provides compensation for harm or injury done, so if the misdiagnosis changed nothing--if you would have had the same outcome no matter what--there is no harm and no lawsuit.
Even if the misdiagnosis did harm you, you'd still only have a case if the misdiagnosis for actually negligent or careless. The law accepts that medicine is not perfect: sometimes doctors, etc. do everything right but still get it wrong, because our knowledge and techniques are imperfect. If a reasonable careful doctor could have made that diagnosis, there is no malpractice; it is only malpractice if careless.
So to have a case, you need medical negligence or careless (malpractice) which provably caused you harm.
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