Misread Radiology Reports

Medical technology plays a big role in how doctors diagnose illnesses toady. X-rays, CT scans, and MRIs allow doctors to diagnose illness in a noninvasive way. The physicians that read the diagnostic films are called radiologists. The radiologist is rarely your treating doctor. Rather they are a key part of your treatment team. Accurate reading of a diagnostic film is a crucial step in determining your diagnosis and what treatment would be appropriate for you. If you are injured or improperly treated as a result of a misread radiology report, our Ocala medical malpractice lawyers can help you seek compensation for the harm you've suffered.

Doctors can use radiology to reveal medical conditions including tumors, cancer, fractures, or internal bleeding. However, films and radiological reports must be properly read to obtain a correct diagnosis and appropriate treatment. Sometimes the radiologist misreads an x-ray, mammogram, MRI, CT or CAT scan. The result can be a failure to diagnose or a misdiagnosis, and an improper treatment plan.

For example, if your radiologist misreads films or your doctor misreads the radiologist's report, which should have led to a cancer diagnosis, you might not receive treatment in a timely fashion. Further complications such as the cancer spreading and worsening, or death may be the result. Detecting cancer in its earliest stages is associated with a higher survival rate and lower treatment costs. Treating Stage IV breast cancer is two or three times more expensive than treating Stage I breast cancer, for example. In another situation, a misreading of a radiologist's report could lead to more aggressive treatment than what is warranted, resulting in harm from side effects.

In order to establish liability for the radiologist or other physician who misread the films or report, you would have to establish that the doctor failed to meet the standard of professional care that other competent professionals in the same specialty would have met. It is also necessary to prove that this failure caused the harm you suffered. If the harm you suffered is exactly the same as what would have happened even if the film or report were properly read, you will not be able to establish causation.

Our first step if you seek our help in connection with misread diagnostic films our first step would be to obtain copies of the films and have them reviewed to determine if a mistake was made. We may also need to consult a doctor from the same specialty as a treating physician (such an as oncologist in a case involving a cancer misdiagnosis) to determine the harm that arose from the misread film.

Damages you may be able to recover if your physician misread a radiologist's report or a radiologist made an error that caused you harm include medical and hospital bills, lost wages, lost earning capacity, household services, pain and suffering, and mental anguish. If a misread radiologist's report caused the death of your loved one, you may have a claim for wrongful death, which entitles you to recover certain damages.

Medical malpractice is serious, and a health care provider who fails to meet the professional standard of care thereby causing serious harm to you or a family member should be held accountable. At the Dean Law Firm, our experienced Ocala medical malpractice attorneys can represent you in a claim arising out of a misread radiology report. We can also bring wrongful death claims on behalf of certain family members whose loved ones died due to misread radiology reports. Call us at 352-387-8700 or contact us via our online form. We serve medical malpractice victims and families of those that die as a result of medical malpractice throughout the state, including those in Crystal River, The Villages, and Marion, Sumter, Lake, Citrus, and Levy Counties.