Baltimore Laboratory Malpractice Attorneys

Medical Malpractice Lawyers for Lab Errors in Baltimore, MD

The quality of the medical care a person receives will depend on the quality of the information their doctor collects. When carelessness, unsanitary conditions, or poor procedures lead to damaged or misplaced specimens, patients can suffer. Unfortunately, human error, excessive workloads, and poor procedures can lead to catastrophic damage even in routine cases. At Silverman Thompson, our medical malpractice attorneys can help identify lab errors and other forms of negligence to ensure that patients will be able to obtain compensation for the injuries they have suffered.

Common Results of Laboratory Errors

A medical diagnosis involves understanding the nature and cause of a patient's condition. The process of clinical decision-making includes conversations with a health professional, the ordering of tests, and the collection of samples. Diagnostic errors can occur whenever a diagnosis is wrong, delayed, or missed, or if a test result is not communicated to the patient.

At any step of the process, human error can lead to a variety of flawed diagnoses:

• A missed diagnosis occurs when a patient is told they do not have a disease they, in fact, do have or will soon develop (often seen in chronic pain or chronic fatigue patients).
• A delayed diagnosis occurs when the correct diagnosis is learned, but it is ultimately learned later than it should have been. Oftentimes, by the time a diagnosis is made, the disease or ailment has progressed to the point where treatment may no longer be effective. With many fatal conditions, such as breast cancer, early detection is crucial. Due to misdiagnosis, an estimated 795,000 Americans annually become permanently disabled or die from dangerous diseases.
• Misdiagnosis or wrong diagnosis occurs when a patient is diagnosed with a disease they do not have (for example, breast cancer incorrectly being diagnosed as a benign cyst). This can lead to the progression of the disease beyond the ability to treat it.
• Overdiagnosis may occur when something is correctly diagnosed, but the condition would never have led to symptoms or problems, thus resulting in unnecessary treatments and psychological stress.

Common Causes of Laboratory Errors

Errors in medical labs can occur due to issues such as:

• "Mixing up" patient samples
• Clerical errors, including mislabeling samples, recording inaccurate information, improperly transcribing records, etc.
• Poor communication among healthcare professionals
• Contaminating laboratory specimens
• Relying on outdated technology
• Losing laboratory samples
• Use of substandard materials

Our team knows how to identify errors at labs and show that negligence by technicians or other personnel led to inaccurate results. We can review the procedures that were followed and determine when someone missed steps, made mistakes, or came to the wrong conclusions. We can also determine what errors may have occurred when documenting and reporting results, identifying clerical mistakes or miscommunications between labs and other medical personnel.

In addition to documenting lab errors, we will take steps to show how they affected the care a patient received. We may show that inaccurate results affected a doctor's ability to diagnose a condition or that errors prevented medical personnel from understanding whether the treatment a patient received was effective.

Contact Our Baltimore, Maryland Laboratory Malpractice Lawyers

An estimated 60-70% of medical decisions surrounding diagnosis and treatment involve laboratories. When patients suffer physical, emotional, or financial harm because of laboratory errors, effective legal representation is often the only path to recovery.

At Silverman Thompson, our lawyers can take steps to identify lab errors and other issues that may have resulted in a misdiagnosis or other problems that caused a patient to suffer an injury. Andrew G. Slutkin and Ethan S. Nochumowitz can provide legal help for victims of medical negligence, working to ensure that they will be fully compensated for their damages. Contact our Baltimore laboratory error attorneys at 410-385-2225 to arrange a free consultation.