Laboratory Error Lawsuits
investigating hospital diagnostic errors & Lab Mistakes
There are thousands of medical laboratories around the country, many of them in-house at hospitals and medical centers, and patients rely on their expertise and accuracy in times of need. Laboratory errors are downright unacceptable. Medical labs serve a crucial purpose, and receiving proper diagnostic tests can be the difference between an accurate, timely diagnosis and a delayed diagnosis or misdiagnosis.
Regardless of whether it is a hospital lab or a third-party outsourced lab like Quest or LabCorp, medical professionals and hospitals have a duty to provide correct information to patients. Lab technicians and physicians work together to diagnose diseases and illnesses, prescribe medications, and plan treatment for individuals.
When laboratory malpractice and diagnostic errors lead to a misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis, the medical center and lab can be held accountable for the damages they have caused.
Joe Lyon is a Medical Malpractice Attorney and Hospital Error Lawyer reviewing radiology and laboratory malpractice for plaintiffs nationwide.
Laboratory Errors & Diagnostic Errors
A timely and proper diagnosis is critical so patients can quickly begin treatment and get back to full health. But an accurate diagnosis can often only be confirmed by the results of X-rays, biopsies, blood samples and other diagnostic testing. Laboratory errors can include mislabeling samples, losing test results, and a failure to accurately interpret and communicate test results to doctors and patients.
Medical diagnosis for many serious illnesses and conditions like cancer involve a wide range of testing. Hospitals have the ability to treat patients with impressive modern medical advances, but when labs and medical staff make mistakes, patients may suffer the consequences.
Diagnostic errors and laboratory malpractice can easily result in wrong, delayed or missed diagnosis. Diagnostic testing mistakes and failure to diagnose patients are a leading cause of medical malpractice lawsuits, and perhaps only second to surgical errors in the number of patients harmed by negligence.
Hospital Laboratory Negligence
Radiologists are held in high regard by any medical team. The specialists are tasked with interpreting radiographs like X-rays and MRIs to determine a patient’s condition. But when a doctor misses something obviously seen on film, a patient may not be diagnosed correctly.
Missed cancer diagnosis is relatively common, and often the result of radiology malpractice. Doctors do make mistakes, and though they may not intentionally make a professional error, they may be held responsible in medical malpractice litigation.
If you or a loved one has been a victim of laboratory malpractice, it is important to speak to an experienced medical malpractice attorney who understands this complex area of the law. The Lyon Firm works with medical experts who can look into each unique course of events and determine the root cause of injury or death.
Delayed Diagnosis & Misdiagnosis Lawsuits
A misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis case involves a patient who is told they do not have a disease when they in fact do. Failure to diagnose lawsuits can name doctors, hospitals and lab technicians as defendants. A lab error or misreading a test result can result in serious injury and death. Almost every health condition is better treated early, and early diagnosis can save lives.
Most laboratory errors are due to pre-analytical factors, poor communication, and poorly designed processes. Examples of laboratory malpractice include:
- Conducting the wrong tests
- Misreading or misinterpreting lab results
- Mixing up patient samples
- Mislabeling samples
- Losing medical records
- Delayed testing
- Recording wrong results
- Contaminating samples
- Failure to communicate results
- Failure to follow up with patients
Laboratory Error Lawsuits
Lab mistakes can include false positive tests or false negatives. Both errors can cause harm to a patient, as a treatment may be unnecessary or a delayed treatment may lead to a wrongful death. Medical malpractice cases arise when a duty of care is not met by a medical professional, and an injury or death results.
Medical labs have strict protocols, though mistakes are still made on a regular basis. Approximately 250,000 people die each year as a result of medical errors, many of which involve a failure to diagnose a patient.
A Voice for Those who have suffered
Why are these cases important?
When management or individuals fail to provide a sufficient level of care, victims may seek legal recourse and file suit against the negligent parties. Medical malpractice lawsuits improve the quality of healthcare by holding physicians and hospitals responsible when they fall below a professional standard of care.
Your Right to Safe healthcare
Watch our Video About the Legal Process
A recently published study titled, A New, Evidence-based Estimate of Patient Harms Associated with Hospital Care, estimated that 210,000 hospital patients die each year from medical mistakes that could have been prevented.
This places medical malpractice as the third leading cause of death in the United States after heart disease and cancer. Further, the Office of The Inspector General estimated 180,000 deaths per year are due to medical mistakes. And a Study from Journal of Patient Safety estimated that the number of preventable deaths is between 210,000 and 440,000.
Incredibly, the Wrong Site Surgery Project Study found that national incidence of wrong site surgeries, which includes wrong patient, wrong procedure, wrong site and wrong side surgeries, may be as high as 40 per week.
