Were you not truthful with your doctor now you want to file a medical malpractice claim for say, misdiagnosis in Maryland? You may not think that this happens, but the truth of the matter is that in some instances this is exactly what happens. A person will speak with their doctor about their “complaints” but not include all that is happening with their body.
In this medical malpractice educational article, I will help you understand why not only it is a bad idea to withhold important complaints from your doctor for a medical malpractice claim, but it is an awful idea for treatment and health purposes. As the saying goes, you want to be truthful with your doctor, your lawyer, and your priest (preacher).
WHAT IS A DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS?
Have you ever wondered how do doctors go about getting to the right diagnosis based on your complaints and concerns? A differential diagnosis is a tool that is used by doctors to narrow down the current diagnosis based on your complaints. Below you will see why being not truthful with your doctor about all your complaints and concerns can cause serious problems in the differential diagnosis.
With a differential diagnosis, doctors use your complaints to narrow down the correct diagnosis. In a differential, doctors will list the most serious conditions (these are the ones that can cause you immediate serious harm or death) that can be associated with your complaints and work down to the least serious. During this process, your doctor may ask more questions, or run more tests, or perform physical exams to confirm or reject a possible diagnosis. Learning a differential diagnosis is taught early in most medical schools around the country, and still relied on by many doctors today.
NOT TRUTHFUL WITH YOUR DOCTOR NOW WANT TO FILE A MALPRACTICE CLAIM?
In a Maryland medical malpractice claim based on misdiagnosis, or failure to diagnose can sometimes turn on what information the patient gave to the doctor. As seen above, doctors use what is given to them to help get to the right diagnosis for a patient. Things can fall off the rails fast when a patient decides being not truthful with your doctor is the way to go because…oh this stomach pain (which has been radiating for 6 plus months) is not important. Or, the patient decides to take the “hero” approach.
I classify the hero approach as clients who I speak with who after the fact note that they did not tell the doctor everything because they did not want to be looked at as weak. In my experience, the “hero” approach is not specific to one gender. Either way, this behavior is not good for a patient’s long-term health and treatment.
As for the issues of suing for a misdiagnosis, when a medical malpractice attorney is looking to analyze a failure to diagnose, or a misdiagnosis matter, one of the first places of review will be the patient’s complaints and what is included in the medical records. It is here that a good initial picture can be created as to what lead to the current diagnosis. If bad information is given to the doctor, it will be hard to prove that the basis of the failure to diagnose, or the misdiagnosis is due to medical malpractice.
DID A MISDIAGNOSIS CAUSE YOU A PERMANENT INJURY?
Did you reveal all important information to your doctor regarding your complaints and were misdiagnosed; and the misdiagnosis has led to a permanent injury (cancer or some other type of injury)? To speak with me further this is what I invite you to do. Pick up the phone and give me a call.
I can be reached at 301-850-4832. I answer questions regarding medical malpractice and birth injury issues all the time and I would be happy to listen to your story.
Marcus B. Boston, Esq.
2 Wisconsin Circle, Suite 700
Chevy Chase, Maryland 20815
1-833-4 BABY HELP
