Far too many Texas residents know how frustrating it can be to go to a doctor and not receive any relief. Obtaining the right diagnosis is sometimes like running a marathon. When a doctor takes the easy route and makes a diagnosis without further testing, the patient is the one who suffers the damage. A failure to diagnose a condition properly could end up leaving a patient with a debilitating and permanent injury from which he or she may never recover.
For instance, if a woman’s doctor had taken the time to perform additional testing when the woman first went to the doctor, she might not be suffering from severe brain damage today. Based on the woman’s symptoms, the doctor said she suffered from anxiety and failed to order additional tests. Over the next eight months, the woman’s condition worsened, and finally, she received an MRI that revealed she suffers from a hereditary condition called Wilson’s disease. Unfortunately, the diagnosis came too late to prevent the damage to her brain.
A jury agreed with the Missouri woman and awarded her over $28 million. The now 24-year-old was robbed of a normal life, and she will require care for the rest of it. The damage to her brain is so severe that she must be fed through a feeding tube.
This is a tragic example of what can happen in a case where there was a failure to diagnose a patient’s condition in a timely manner. It certainly underscores the importance of receiving the right diagnosis as early as possible. Texas residents who suffer permanent and/or debilitating injuries under similar circumstances also reserve the right to seek restitution when a doctor’s irresponsibility causes irreparable harm.
Source: ky3.com, “Jury awards Springfield woman $28 million in malpractice lawsuit“, March 8, 2017
