Misread X-Rays

Misread X-Rays

Failure to diagnose a serious illness or misdiagnosis can be the result of negligence by one or more responsible parties. When a patient reports suspicious symptoms to a doctor and the doctor orders tests, it is not enough to simply administer the test and process the results in a perfunctory manner.

Both the internal medicine physician and the radiologist or other image specialist need to examine and evaluate test results properly. When our medical experts evaluate potential medical malpractice cases at Smiley & Smiley, LLP, we often find that misdiagnosis or failure to diagnose occurred for one of the following reasons:

• A doctor dismissed reports from the patient or other indicators that the patient needed to be tested for cancer or some other ailment.
• An image specialist failed to read or misread X-rays, CT scan images, MRI images, ultrasound images or dye in veins tests
• A doctor ordered tests done; an image specialist processed and read the results, which were positive for a condition, but neither the doctor nor the radiologist informed the patient of these results.

Human error can have devastating consequences when cancer or some other serious illness is not identified in a timely manner — and worsening of the patient’s condition, or death, is the result. Cancer treatments have improved greatly in recent years, and many patients whose lymphoma or breast cancer or lung cancer is caught in a timely manner can be successfully treated and go on to live normal, full-length lives.

$1 Million — Physician Failed to Timely Diagnose Prostate Cancer

Smiley & Smiley, LLP, obtained a $1 million settlement on behalf of a 60-year-old man whose physician failed to timely diagnose terminal prostate cancer. Reporting this result is not intended to imply that your case will have a similar outcome, but it is a good indicator of our ability to deliver results when all factors are taken into account.