From wrong diagnosis, surgical errors, and incorrect dosages, medical malpractice kills hundreds of thousands of people yearly, making it the third-leading cause of death in the country. This constitutes an improper implementation of healthcare duty, leading to breaches or negligence that can result in emotional or physiological injuries.
Breaching this professional duty is possible when a doctor fails to diagnose a condition, and the patient injured by the breach suffers damages. For example, if you get injured by a failure to diagnose Lyme disease, you could become chronically ill and even cause severe and lasting effects. Whether intentional or not, this harm can impact your life and those around you.
What Is Lyme Disease?
Lyme disease is a tick-borne illness that allows an infected tick to contract a bacterial infection. While not all patients develop visible warning signs, it is characterized by a rash that looks like a bull’s eye. It causes mild to severe symptoms, including fatigue, headache, fever, chills, rash, and swollen glands.
Any reasonable doctor should confirm if you have Lyme disease when you get this rash or mention having been bitten by a tick. Although you may not be aware that you were bitten but report symptoms consistent with Lyme disease, your doctor should consider it a possibility due to its dangerous effects.
What Happens If Lyme Disease Is Undiagnosed and Untreated?
Diagnosing Lyme disease may be made based on the presence of your rash and other symptoms. Its early stages and the bacterial infection associated with it can usually be cured with antibiotics. A post-treatment may also be possible even after this infection is addressed.
If Lyme disease goes undiagnosed and untreated, you may notice your rash will go away on its own in around a month. However, you may experience headaches, fatigue, and other symptoms in the following weeks and months. In its later stages, you may suffer from inflammation of the heart muscle and other neurological symptoms, leading to arrhythmia, heart failure, Bell’s palsy, and meningitis.
What Happens If Your Doctor Failed to Diagnose Your Lyme Disease?
Due to its flu-like symptoms, Lyme disease is easy to misdiagnose if your doctor is not precise about confirming the source of your illness. If you are a victim of having a wrong diagnosis or failing to get any diagnosis at all, your experience can be grounds for a medical malpractice claim.
You have to prove certain elements at trial if you want to seek compensation for the medical error. These elements include the existence of your professional relationship with your doctor, the existence of their duty, breach of the duty, proximate causation, and damages. Such damages can be in the form of pain, suffering, lost income, and money spent on medical bills. All of these must be present; otherwise, you will fail at acquiring compensation and recovery.
Proving these elements on your own at trial can be challenging. To get the best results for your case, it’s advisable to work with an experienced medical malpractice attorney.
Conclusion
Proper diagnosis of Lyme disease is crucial since it can lead to severe consequences. Failing to diagnose it can be deemed as medical malpractice, depending on the circumstances and your ability to prove your claim. Since there are certain elements that have to be present for it to be considered a medical error, it’s worth consulting with an experienced attorney to help you pursue legal action.
Reach out to Ronemus & Vilensky, LLP if you need a Lyme disease malpractice attorney. We can assist you in getting the financial compensation that you deserve. Additionally, we have traumatic brain injury attorneys, jet ski accident attorneys, and more that can help you with other cases. Contact us to schedule a free consultation!