Since 1988, Grossman Roth Yaffa Cohen has represented families who have lost loved ones to someone else's negligent actions. Our firm has a proven track record of success, winning millions of dollars in rightful compensation for our clients.
Failure to Diagnose Attorneys in Miami
Your Rights After a Diagnostic Error or Misdiagnosis in Florida
A proper diagnosis is the first and most important step in patient care; a doctor cannot properly treat a patient without first knowing what’s wrong.
As medical professionals, doctors are responsible for recognizing potential medical problems. In the early stages of care, this may mean conducting a thorough patient history and physical examination, ordering or performing tests, and / or referring patients to specialists.
In short, health care providers tasked with diagnosing patients must take steps other medical professionals with the same knowledge and training would be expected to take. When they fail to do so, they may be held accountable for medical negligence and victims’ damages.
GRYC: A Proven Record in Diagnostic Malpractice Cases
Grossman Roth Yaffa Cohen is nationally recognized for our work in medical malpractice litigation. Backed by a highly experienced team of attorneys, paralegals, and medical investigators, we’ve recovered over $1 billion in compensation for our clients, and have amassed a proven record of success in highly complex claims – including those involving failures to diagnose and misdiagnoses.
Examples of our results include:
- A $9.8M Settlement for a newborn who suffered severe brain damage and permanent disabilities after staff from Coral Springs Medical Center and an obstetrics center failed to recognize numerous signs indicating a need for special attention during birth.
- A 7-Figure Settlement for a woman whose leg was amputated after staff at a Lee County hospital failed to diagnose a blood clot behind her knee. The amputation could have been avoided had providers discovered the clot in the ER or upon admission.
- A Nearly $2M Settlement for the wrongful death of a man who, on the last day of his vacation, was told by a local ER physician that his red, swollen, and painful leg was not a blood clot, but rather cellulitis from a sunburn. After returning home the next day, the man died from a pulmonary embolism caused by a blood clot initially suspected by the family.
- A 7-Figure Settlement for the family of a mother and baby who tragically died during birth after staff at a Charlotte County hospital failed to assess her complications and the need for an emergency transfer to a Sarasota County Hospital, which had the necessary resources.
Grossman Roth Yaffa Cohen is available to review your potential case during a FREE consultation. Call or contact us online to get started.
Is a Misdiagnosis or Failure to Diagnose Malpractice?
Despite incredible advancements in medical care and technology, diagnostic errors continue to plague modern medicine. This includes incorrect and missed diagnoses, as well as delayed diagnoses, failures to recognize complications, and failures to diagnose related disease – all of which may constitute medical malpractice if they:
- Were a breach of the standard of care; and
- Resulted in a patient suffering actual damages.
Primary care physicians, specialists, technicians, and other health care professionals may fail to diagnose or misdiagnose various conditions – some more than others. However, they’re still required to know established potential symptoms of conditions, be able to recognize them in patients, and take the appropriate steps to test and assess patients in accordance to accepted standards.
Although every case is unique, there are some commonly missed or misdiagnosed conditions:
- Cancer (including breast cancer, lung, prostate, colon and skin cancer)
- Stroke / aneurysm
- Heart attack and heart disease (including aortic dissection)
- Blood clots / DVT / pulmonary embolism
- Osteomyelitis
- Meningitis
- Appendicitis
- Labor and delivery complications leading to birth injuries
- Infection or sepsis
Diagnostic errors involving these and other conditions can deprive patients of invaluable time for obtaining treatment, which can allow a condition to progress and the patient to suffer injury. It may also result in patients receiving the wrong, potentially injurious, treatment. In some cases – such as those involving cancer, where early stage intervention is critical to a patient’s prognosis – it can mean the difference between life and death.
In addition to proving that a provider failed to diagnose or misdiagnosed a condition, Plaintiffs will also need to prove that the medical professional’s error was a substantial cause of their harm and losses. Accomplishing this task requires extensive investigation into the surrounding circumstances, as well as close collaboration with medical experts who can provide their opinions as to whether a provider failed to act as another would have acted in the same or similar situation.
Here are few examples of how negligence may manifest in misdiagnosis / failure to diagnose cases:
- Failure to perform an adequate patient history, physical exam, or listen to a patient’s complaints and symptoms;
- Failures to recognize a patient’s symptoms;
- Failure to perform a differential diagnosis between similar or common conditions;
- Failure to order necessary tests, imaging scans;
- Errors in interpreting / reading medical test results;
- Failure to refer a patient to a needed specialist.
Miami Misdiagnosis / Failure to Diagnose Attorney Serving Florida
Diagnostic errors can have profound and permanent repercussions on patients and their families, and result in tremendous psychological distress over what could have been. In cases like these, it is of the utmost importance that families reach out for the support they need to fully investigate their case, and build the strong and convincing arguments needed to prevail.
Grossman Roth Yaffa Cohen has helped many families across Florida who’ve suffered as a result of diagnostic errors and malpractice. To discuss your case during a FREE consultation, contact us.
A Legacy of Change
Working With Grossman Roth Yaffa Cohen-
Changing Lives by Changing The Law
Since our firm opened, we've made it our mission to get justice for our clients and their families. We've not only taken on cases that other firms had turned down, but we've also fought to get unjust laws and restrictions overturned or modified.
-
A Team of Legal Professionals
Complex legal cases require extensive research, trial experience, and industry knowledge, which is why we always have a team of attorneys working on every case we take on. Our team-centric approach to litigation means that we're able to really focus on getting our clients the best possible outcome.
-
There Are No Upfront Legal Fees
We handle all of our claims on a contingency fee basis and will handle all legal fees, court costs, and expert fees related to your specific case. With decades of experience in this industry, we have a wealth of experts we work with routinely to ensure your case is handled with the utmost care.
-
We Understand the Medicine
Our attorneys not only take the time to understand the evidence in your case, but also the pathology and medical techniques used in your specific situation. We believe that any attorney that takes on these types of cases needs to be on equal footing with medical professionals and physicians.
A LEGACY OF CHANGING LIVES
Millions Recovered on Behalf of Our Clients-
Medical Malpractice Seven-Figure Orthopedic Medical Malpractice
A Punta Gorda, Florida woman in her forties visited an ear, nose, and throat specialist for a check-up due to fatigue. After performing a brief examination, the doctor at the facility recommended that she undergo parathyroid surgery, however he did not order the necessary radiological scan that determines which side of her neck should be operated on. Without that information available, the surgeon began on the wrong side of her neck and did not realize his error until they were well into the procedure.
-
Medical Malpractice Seven-Figure Settlement for Woman Who Lost Her Leg After Misdiagnosis
A woman in her sixties was brought to a hospital after she slipped and fell, injuring her leg and causing severe pain. During her treatment, the hospital staff failed to notice that the impact had caused a blood clot behind her knee, which was restricting circulation to the rest of her leg. Over time, the untreated clot cut off blood flow to the point where her leg was beyond saving and needed amputation.
-
Medical Malpractice Seven-Figure Settlement for Family of Mother Who Died During Childbirth
In 2015, a 23-year-old mother began experiencing severe complications while giving birth in Charlotte County, Florida. The hospital’s staff did not give her the attention she needed, and failed to realize that her complications required an emergency transfer to a Sarasota County Hospital, which had the needed staff and equipment to treat her. The mother and her unborn child eventually died in the hospital.
-
Medical Malpractice Seven-Figure Settlement for Misdiagnosis of a Blood Clot
A 68-year-old man was complaining about pain in his left leg, which was swollen, red, and painful. He went to a local emergency room, and the family asked the doctor if it was a blood clot. The doctor assured the family that it was not a blood clot but was instead cellulitis from a sunburn. When the patient returned home the next day, he died of a pulmonary embolism due to the blood clot that was initially suspected by the family.
-
Medical Malpractice Over $1 Million Settlement for Medical Malpractice Victim
A middle-aged man had a history of an aortic aneurysm. His plan was to fly to Stanford University, where a doctor was scheduled to repair the aneurysm. Rather than starting the transfer to Stanford the day he arrived, the hospital waited three days and then failed to get his insurance company to pay for the transfer. Tragically, while the patient was speaking with the insurance company on the phone about the transfer, the aneurysm ruptured, and he died.
-
Jury Verdict Against the University of Florida $23,500,000
A $23.5 million medical malpractice jury verdict against the University of Florida on behalf of a woman who suffered a massive stroke when a medical procedure to ease her migraines went wrong.
-
Jury Verdict on Behalf of a Former Major League Baseball Star $898,000
A medical malpractice jury verdict on behalf of a former Major League Baseball star against an ophthalmologist for negligence in the removal of a cataract and implantation of an artificial lens in our client’s left eye.
-
Medical Malpractice Eight-Figure Settlement for Victim of Nursing Medical Malpractice
A middle-aged woman was in a hospital recovering from a brain aneurysm. While recovering in her hospital room, she grew agitated and began pulling on the tracheostomy tube connected to her neck. The nurse on duty documented that she was pulling at her tubes six different times in 24 hours, and yet did nothing to prevent her from being able to dismantle the tubes.
-
Medical Malpractice Eight-Figure Settlement for Failure to Timely Treat a Heart Attack
After successfully opening and stenting a 53-year-old man's blocked artery, while in the recovery room, the patient suffered another heart attack, but this time it took medical staff nearly 90 minutes to get him back to the catheterization lab. Due to the delay, his heart stopped. He was revived in the operating room, but he suffered a hypoxic brain injury, causing massive brain damage.
-
Medical Malpractice Seven-Figure Settlement for Victim of Cardiology Medical Malpractice
A 46-year-old man was undergoing heart surgery at a South Florida hospital after suffering a heart attack. During the procedure, the cardiologist perforated the patient’s left anterior descending artery. The patient died, leaving behind an 11-year-old daughter and wife.
