Medical misdiagnosis claims

How do I know if I can make a medical misdiagnosis claim?

To make a medical diagnosis claim, you need to be able to prove that you were harmed in some way, and that your healthcare provider was at fault. We can make this easy by helping you gather evidence and put this together to support your misdiagnosis claim.

Generally, you can make a misdiagnosis compensation claim if:

• You saw your doctor with symptoms and was told there was nothing wrong – only for you to be diagnosed later on
• You were told your condition was much less serious, which resulted in delayed treatment
• You had unnecessary treatment or surgery for a wrong diagnosis
• You’ve been wrongly told that you had a terminal illness, which led to psychological harm.

No matter what the impact, we understand how terrifying medical misdiagnoses can be, and offer 20 years’ experience in settling no win, no fee claims just like yours.

How much can I claim for a medical misdiagnosis claim?

The value of your medical misdiagnosis claim will depend on a number of factors, so there’s no one set compensation amount. For example, we’ll look at the effects the misdiagnosis has had on your life – how seriously your health has been affected, and what the long-term impacts are.

We call physical damages ‘general’ damages, while anything else, such as financial losses through travelling to appointments, is classed as ‘special’ damages.

If your misdiagnosis resulted in physical injury, you can use the Judicial Board Guidelines for an approximate figure based on body part injuries. For example:

• Injury to internal organs can be worth as much as £140,000
• Loss of senses such as blindness can be worth as much as £214,000
• Brain damage can be worth as much as £322,000.

Use our medical negligence compensation calculator to see what your misdiagnosis may be worth.

How is compensation for medical misdiagnosis calculated?

We use a number of factors to calculate your medical misdiagnosis claim, mostly depending on the effect the physical injury has had on your life. We’ll consider:

• How severe the damage is, for example if the misdiagnosis led to cancer
• Your overall recovery time or changes to life expectancy
• Any financial losses such as time off work or travel to appointments
• Any adjustments you need to make to your home or car
• Any considerations for long-term care
• Any lifestyle changes you need to make, such as no longer being able to enjoy hobbies.

Every case is different, which is why we go above and beyond, taking on the cases that other solicitors turn away. Speak to our expert medical misdiagnosis team to get you the compensation you deserve – no matter how the diagnosis impacts your life.

Which medical conditions are commonly misdiagnosed?

The most common medical misdiagnoses are long-term illnesses, though with ongoing pressures on the NHS, a number of conditions can be misdiagnosed. Your doctor may misdiagnose:

• Broken bones
• Ectopic pregnancy
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Meningitis
• Diabetes
• Stroke
• Epilepsy

We understand how you might be feeling after your misdiagnosis – particularly if a life-changing condition has been missed. We’ll help you to gather the evidence to prove that your healthcare provider failed in their duty of care, and we’ll also help you to find the answers.

How do I prove I have a medical misdiagnosis claim?

To prove medical misdiagnosis, you need to show that you have suffered physical harm, and that your healthcare provider was at fault. Many misdiagnoses happen because doctors mistook common symptoms for something else. However, in other cases, they may have been negligent – which can result in serious consequences.

Examples of medical negligence for misdiagnosis claims include:

• Not sending you to the right specialist
• Misreading your test results
• Not examining you properly
• Failing to acknowledge your medical history
• Not listening to your symptoms properly.

If you feel that your doctor has done any of these, get in touch with us to make your medical misdiagnosis claim. We specialise in getting the biggest payouts possible for those who have suffered at the hands of medical misdiagnosis – and we may be able to help you with early compensation (interim) payments while you’re waiting.

Choosing the right solicitors

For a no win, no fee medical misdiagnosis claim, speak to the team at Express Solicitors. We can offer 20 years of experience, and specialise in settling claims that other solicitors will turn away. We fight hard to get you the compensation you deserve, and understand the devastating effects that medical misdiagnosis can have.

In the unlikely event that you don’t qualify for no win, no fee, don’t panic. We can still help you get the compensation you deserve. You can speak to Legal Aid, or have a chat with one of our friendly solicitors to see how we can settle your claim and get your life back on track.

What is the process for making a medical misdiagnosis claim?

When you make a medical misdiagnosis compensation claim with us, you’ll generally go through four steps before you receive your compensation. If you have any evidence before you get in touch, that will help – but we can help you to gather this.

1. You can start by giving us a call and having a friendly consultation with one of our trusted advisors. We can talk you through the evidence you need to support your claim, such as medical history, details of correspondence with your doctor, witness statements and anything else that proves your injury, and the healthcare provider’s liability.
2. Once we have your evidence, we will send one of our trusted medical advisors to come out and examine you. Please don’t be alarmed – this advisor is here to help you with evidence. They will be looking for a ‘breach of duty’ (proof that the doctor was at fault) and ‘causation’ – proof that you were harmed. They will give us a report, which we can then use as a ‘Letter of Claim’ to send to your healthcare provider.
3. By law, your healthcare provider has four months to respond to your medical misdiagnosis claim. While you’re waiting, we will calculate how much we think your compensation claim could be worth. If they admit liability, you’ll receive compensation on a no win, no fee basis. If not, there may be a further step.
4. Your healthcare provider may dispute liability, in which case we will go further to prove they were responsible. Less than 1% of cases go to court, but we can support you in the unlikely event that this does happen. We will fight your corner, and if you don’t win, you will not have to pay. If you do win, we can also help you with ‘early compensation’ or interim payments – this is money from your final settlement to tide you over. Your compensation will come out of the NHS Resolution fund, which is essentially the NHS’ insurance. If your healthcare provider is private, it will come out of their liability insurance.

What do I need to prove during my misdiagnosis claim?

With medical misdiagnosis claims, our expert solicitors will work harder to prove that you suffered harm, and that your medical provider was at fault. You don’t need to worry about chasing evidence – we will do the hard work for you and instruct you on any paperwork or other evidence we may need.

Our solicitors will represent you and write to the organisation in question, so once the medical exam is over, you can count on us to do the rest – completely no win, no fee.  Our team will be able to tell is you have been misdiagnosed.

What will happen when I make a claim?

When you make a claim, our expert solicitor team will look at the evidence you give us, such as medical records or correspondence, as we will use this to prove negligence. To support your claim further, we may ask a medical professional to examine you. This professional will then write us a detailed report proving both the physical harm you’ve suffered, and the healthcare provider’s liability.

After your initial consultation and your medical exam, all you have to do is wait. We will be responsible for writing ‘letters of claim’, as well as calculating your compensation amount and claiming against the organisation.

In the very, very unlikely event that we have to make a court appearance (if the organisation disputes your claim), we may ask you to attend. We understand that this can be overwhelming, but our representatives will be there to support you. Please rest assured this happens in less than 1% of cases, and most of the time, our expert lawyers can settle the claims out of court.

What are the time limits for making a medical misdiagnosis claim?

The time limit for making a medical misdiagnosis compensation claim is three years. This counts as three years from the date of the ‘incident’, or three years from the date that you received the correct diagnosis. We encourage you to get in touch with us as soon as possible so that we can make a more accurate, no win, no fee claim.

The following are exceptions to the three-year time limit:

• If you were under 18 at the time of the misdiagnosis, you can have somebody represent you up until your 18^th You can also represent yourself for up to three years after your 18^th birthday (your 21^st birthday).
• If you or somebody else was ‘mentally incapacitated’ as a result of the misdiagnosis – for example with a brain injury – there is no time limit to your compensation claim.

Types of conditions

With increasing pressure on the NHS, doctors may fail to diagnose many common conditions, or mistake them for something less serious. Your doctor has a duty of care to protect you, and you can make a no win, no fee medical misdiagnosis claim if they misdiagnose any of the following:

• Abdominal aortic aneurysm
• Appendicitis
• Bacterial meningitis
• Cancer
• Peritonitis
• Septicaemia

Abdominal aortic aneurysm

Abdominal aortic aneurysms are most common in those over the age of 65, and up to half of cases are misdiagnosed. This is a bulge in the main blood vessel from the heart, and can be very serious if it’s missed on tests – for example, if your doctor neglects to offer an X-ray or dye test.

Appendicitis

Diagnostic technology for appendicitis has come along in leaps and bounds in recent years. However, if your doctor mistakenly believes you have appendicitis, you may go through unnecessary surgery to remove the appendix, which could result in pain during recovery. Alternatively, if your doctor misses appendicitis, this could lead to more serious conditions such as peritonitis – a rupture (breakage or bursting) of the appendix.

Bacterial meningitis

Though children are more at risk than adults, bacterial meningitis is extremely serious, leading to potential brain injury and hearing damage. Bacterial meningitis involves an infection of the membranes surrounding the brain.

Cancer

One of the leading causes of death in the UK, cancer affects up to one in three of us. While some cancers can be treatable and even curable if detected early, late detection can lead to a much shorter life expectancy. Cancer misdiagnoses often occur in younger people, who are often thought to be too healthy to have cancer at a young age.

Peritonitis

Peritonitis is a development of late-stage appendicitis. It can cause the appendix to break or burst, which can lead to extreme damage to other internal organs, or even death.

Septicaemia (Sepsis)

Septicaemia is caused by bacteria in the blood, commonly introduced from medical surgery such as dental work. If it is not diagnosed straight away, the rate of mortality can climb to as high as 40%, as it can lead to organ failure.