Failure to Diagnose Lawsuit: Crucial Justice 2025
New York City Failure to Diagnose Lawsuit: When Medical Errors Have Life-Changing Consequences
A failure to diagnose lawsuit is a medical malpractice claim filed when a healthcare provider’s failure to identify a patient’s condition in a timely manner causes preventable harm. To succeed with this legal action in New York, you must prove four key elements: a doctor-patient relationship existed, the provider breached the standard of care, this breach caused your injury, and you suffered measurable damages.
When you trust a doctor with your health, you expect them to order the right tests, interpret results correctly, and recognize warning signs. Unfortunately, diagnostic errors are a public health crisis. According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, they cause an estimated 795,000 Americans to die or become permanently disabled each year.
In New York City, these mistakes can mean missing cancer on a mammogram, dismissing a heart attack as indigestion, or failing to recognize a stroke. These are not just errors; they are failures that can change or end lives. When a provider’s negligence causes you serious harm, New York law gives you the right to seek compensation.
I’m Mark Segal, and with my firm’s 75 years of combined experience, I’ve represented New Yorkers harmed by medical negligence, including in failure to diagnose lawsuits. We fight to secure financial recovery and hold negligent parties accountable for preventable harm.
What Constitutes a Failure to Diagnose?
In New York, a failure to diagnose lawsuit addresses situations where a doctor’s actions—or inaction—fall below the accepted medical standard of care, causing real harm. It’s not about any mistake, but one that a reasonably prudent doctor in the same situation would not have made.
A failure to diagnose occurs when a medical professional completely overlooks a patient’s condition. This is different from a misdiagnosis (identifying the wrong condition) or a delayed diagnosis (identifying the right condition too late). For example, if a doctor sends you home with chest pain without any diagnosis and you have an unrecognized heart attack, that is a failure to diagnose.
These errors become grounds for a lawsuit when they constitute negligence. Once a doctor-patient relationship is established, the doctor owes you a duty of care. If they breach that duty by missing your condition, and that failure causes preventable harm, you may have a claim. The key question is whether the error led to improper care, delayed treatment, or no treatment, making your condition worse.
For a more detailed look at these distinctions, you can explore our page on Misdiagnosis & Delayed Diagnosis.
Common Conditions Missed by Doctors
Certain illnesses are missed more frequently than others, often with devastating consequences. The most common and deadly diagnostic errors involve cardiovascular events, infections, and cancers.
- Cancer: Early detection is critical. A missed tumor on a mammogram or a dismissed lump can allow cancer to progress from a treatable stage to a much more serious one.
- Heart attacks: These are often missed, especially in women, whose symptoms can differ from the classic presentation. Chest pain might be dismissed as anxiety or heartburn, leading to permanent heart damage without prompt treatment. You can learn more about recognizing heart attack symptoms to understand what doctors should be looking for.
- Stroke: Immediate recognition is vital. Failing to perform a neurological exam or order a CT scan can lead to preventable, permanent brain damage.
- Pulmonary embolism: A blood clot in the lungs that can be fatal if untreated. About 33% of undiagnosed patients die from this condition, as its symptoms can be mistaken for other issues.
- Sepsis: The body’s overwhelming response to an infection, which can cause organ failure and death within hours. It occurs when a doctor fails to diagnose and treat an infection early.
- Meningitis: This inflammation of the membranes around the brain and spinal cord can be fatal or cause severe damage. Its flu-like symptoms are sometimes dismissed, and by the time a correct diagnosis is made, it may be too late. More information about this serious condition is available at Mayo Clinic’s meningitis page.
- Other Conditions: Other commonly missed conditions include infections, which can become drug-resistant or spread; aneurysms, which can rupture and cause a stroke; deep vein thrombosis (DVT), where clots can travel to the lungs; and even fractures, which can heal improperly and cause chronic pain.
Proving Your Failure to Diagnose Lawsuit in New York
Winning a failure to diagnose lawsuit in New York requires a thorough understanding of both medicine and law. The burden of proof is on you, the injured patient, to show that it’s more likely than not that four elements occurred: a duty of care, a breach of that duty, causation, and damages.
Proving medical malpractice in New York involves a meticulous review of your medical records. We examine every note, test result, and communication to see what was done, what wasn’t, and what should have been done. This process is lengthy and demanding, which is why experienced legal representation is so important.
For a broader understanding of medical malpractice claims in New York, you can visit our Medical Malpractice page.
Establishing a Duty of Care
First, we must establish that a doctor-patient relationship existed. This creates a “duty of care”—a legal obligation for the medical professional to provide competent treatment. This is usually straightforward, proven by appointment records or bills. This duty also extends to hospitals in New York City. When you enter an emergency room, for example, the facility and its staff owe you a duty of care. Even if an ER doctor is an independent contractor, the hospital can often be held responsible for their mistakes under New York law, especially in cases of Emergency Room Errors.
Proving a Breach in the Standard of Care in a failure to diagnose lawsuit
This is the core of your claim: showing the healthcare provider’s actions fell below the standard of care. This means their diagnostic process was not what a reasonably careful medical professional in the same field of medicine would have done in a similar situation in New York. A breach can occur in several ways:
- Failing to order appropriate tests, like an EKG for chest pain or a mammogram for a breast lump.
- Misinterpreting test results, such as a radiologist missing a tumor on an X-ray or a lab overlooking abnormal values.
- Ignoring patient-reported symptoms, especially if they are new, severe, or worsening.
- Failing to perform a differential diagnosis, which is the process of listing and ruling out possible conditions.
- Poor communication between providers, leading to lost results or missed follow-ups.
To prove a breach, we work with medical professionals who can review your case and explain to a jury how the standard of care was violated.
Linking the Diagnostic Error to Your Injury in a failure to diagnose lawsuit
It’s not enough to show a mistake was made; we must prove the diagnostic error directly caused your harm. We need to demonstrate that if the diagnosis had been made on time, your outcome would have been significantly better. This is called causation.
For example, a missed cancer diagnosis can allow a tumor to grow from treatable to inoperable. This progression is a direct result of the failure to diagnose. Similarly, a missed heart attack can cause permanent heart damage, and an undiagnosed stroke can lead to a lasting Brain Injury.
In some cases, the harm is a lost chance of recovery, where you miss the window for less invasive or more effective treatments. In the most tragic cases, a diagnostic error leads to death, which may be grounds for a Wrongful Death claim on behalf of the family. Proving causation requires a careful reconstruction of your medical timeline to show how a timely diagnosis would have changed your outcome.
Recovering Compensation and Navigating the Legal Timeline
A failure to diagnose lawsuit in New York is about securing accountability and the resources you need to move forward. The compensation we pursue is designed to cover both the financial and personal toll the medical error has taken.
Damages in a failure to diagnose lawsuit cover tangible and intangible losses. We seek compensation for:
- Economic Damages: This includes past and future medical bills, lost wages from being unable to work, and lost future earning capacity if you cannot return to your career.
- Non-Economic Damages: This compensates you for your physical pain and suffering, emotional distress and anxiety, and the loss of enjoyment of life. It can also include a spouse’s loss of companionship.
While every case is unique, settlements can be substantial, sometimes exceeding $1 million, depending on the severity of the injury. For more details on damages in severe cases, visit our page on Catastrophic Injury.
New York’s Statute of Limitations
There is a strict deadline, or statute of limitations, for filing a failure to diagnose lawsuit in New York. Miss it, and your case can be dismissed. Generally, you have two years and six months (30 months) from the date of the malpractice or from the end of continuous treatment for that condition to file a claim.
However, you often don’t realize a diagnostic error occurred right away. New York’s “findy rule” can help in some cases, particularly for cancer diagnoses, by starting the clock when you finded, or reasonably should have finded, the error. For children, the deadline is extended, and for wrongful death claims, the statute of limitations is typically two years from the date of death. Given these complexities, it is crucial to act quickly.
How Contingency Fees Work
Many people worry about affording a lawyer. At Segal & Lax, we work on a contingency fee basis, meaning you pay nothing unless we win your case. There are no upfront costs, retainer fees, or hourly bills. Our fee is a percentage of the compensation we recover for you. If we don’t win, you don’t pay us.
We also cover the costs of building your case, such as filing fees and payments for medical record reviews. This arrangement means we share the risk and are fully motivated to achieve the best possible outcome for you. It levels the playing field, ensuring everyone in New York has access to justice, regardless of their financial situation.
Frequently Asked Questions about Failure to Diagnose Lawsuits
We know that understanding the intricacies of a failure to diagnose lawsuit can be overwhelming, especially when you’re already dealing with the aftermath of a serious medical error. Over our decades of representing New Yorkers, we’ve heard many of the same questions from clients who are trying to make sense of what happened to them. Here are the answers to some of the most common concerns we hear in our New York City office.
What is the role of a medical professional witness?
A medical professional who provides testimony is essential to proving a failure to diagnose lawsuit in New York. These are practicing or retired medical professionals, usually from the same field of medicine as the doctor in your case. Their role is to provide an objective, professional opinion on the medical facts.
They will review your medical records to establish the standard of care at the time of your treatment. They then explain to a judge and jury exactly how the defendant’s actions failed to meet that standard. They also translate complex medical information into understandable language and clarify how a timely diagnosis would have changed your outcome. Their testimony is critical for providing concrete evidence of negligence and causation—two of the four critical elements we need to prove in your failure to diagnose lawsuit.
Can a hospital be held liable for a failure to diagnose?
Yes, absolutely. In New York, hospitals can be held liable for diagnostic errors, and in fact, they often should be. This can happen through vicarious liability, where the hospital is responsible for the negligence of its employees, such as a nurse or lab technician. Hospitals can also be directly liable for their own institutional failures. If systemic issues like poor communication protocols, lost test results, inadequate staffing, or faulty equipment lead to a missed diagnosis, the hospital itself is negligent. Even if an ER doctor is an independent contractor, the hospital may still be held responsible, especially in Emergency Room Errors cases.
What steps should I take if I suspect a diagnostic error?
If you suspect a diagnostic error has harmed you or someone you love in New York, you’re probably feeling a mix of emotions: confusion, anger, fear, maybe even guilt for questioning your doctor. Those feelings are completely normal. What matters now is taking action to protect your health and your legal rights.
- Get a Second Opinion: Prioritize your health by seeing another qualified physician. This can confirm if something was missed. Your health is more important than anyone’s feelings.
- Gather Your Medical Records: You have a legal right to your records in New York. Request all notes, lab results, and imaging reports. These documents are the foundation of a potential failure to diagnose lawsuit.
- Document Everything: Keep a journal detailing your symptoms, appointments, and conversations with doctors. Note any financial impacts like missed work or out-of-pocket costs.
- Contact a New York Attorney: The statute of limitations for medical malpractice in New York is strict. Building a strong case takes time, and evidence can be lost. Contact an attorney as soon as possible. We offer free consultations and work on a contingency fee basis, so you pay nothing unless we win.
How a New York Malpractice Attorney Can Help
When a doctor’s mistake changes your life, you shouldn’t have to face the aftermath alone. Experiencing harm due to a failure to diagnose lawsuit in New York—whether you’re in Manhattan, The Bronx, Queens, Staten Island, or Brooklyn—can turn your world upside down. The physical pain is often just the beginning. There’s the emotional toll of knowing your suffering was preventable, the financial strain of mounting medical bills, and the overwhelming confusion about what to do next.
At Segal & Lax, we’ve spent over 75 years of combined experience standing up for New Yorkers who’ve been harmed by medical negligence. We’re not just lawyers—we’re patient advocates who understand the profound trust you placed in your medical providers, and the deep betrayal you feel when that trust is broken.
We handle the complex legal system for you, managing all paperwork, deadlines, and procedures so you can focus on your recovery. We build a strong case by reviewing medical records and working with credible medical witnesses to prove every element of your claim. We know how to stand up to the large insurance companies and hospitals to level the playing field.
Our goal is to secure fair compensation that reflects all your losses—not just your current medical bills, but future medical costs, lost wages, and the intangible but very real impacts of pain and suffering. We negotiate aggressively on your behalf, and if the insurance company won’t offer a fair settlement, we’re prepared to take your case to trial.
We provide access to justice through our “no win, no fee” contingency basis. This means there are no upfront costs for you. We cover the costs of litigation, and we only get paid if we recover compensation for you. We’re invested in your success because our success depends on yours.
Don’t delay. The statute of limitations clock is ticking, and preserving evidence is crucial.
Contact us for a free medical malpractice consultation today. Let’s talk about what happened and how we can help you move forward.
