A failure to diagnose claim arises when a provider misses, delays, or incorrectly identifies a condition that a competent provider would have recognized, and that delay causes meaningful harm. The most common settings include cancer (breast, colorectal, lung), cardiac events, stroke, infection and sepsis, and obstetric emergencies.
What these cases require
Establishing diagnostic negligence demands a careful reconstruction of the clinical encounter: what was reported, what was examined, what testing was ordered or omitted, and what the differential diagnosis should have included. Expert review by physicians in the relevant specialty is essential.
Why patient safety matters
Holding providers accountable for diagnostic failures is one of the most direct ways to improve the systems that produce them. Litigation, when pursued seriously, drives change.
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