Differential Diagnosis in Orlando Medical Malpractice Lawsuits
Medical doctors are trained to understand that many medical conditions have similar signs and symptoms. While in medical school doctors learn the most careful method to determine. To do so, medical students are taught to list all possible medical conditions that could be causing the patients complaints. The list should begin with the most serious conditions and move down to the least harmful and least likely.
This list of possible causes for a patient's complaints is called a "differential diagnosis." Once the differential diagnosis is thoughtfully prepared, the doctor must carefully consider each potential illness on the list. As the doctor goes down the list each medical condition must be rule out one at a time. By doing so, it is a relatively easy process to reasonably ensure that a patient receives the proper evaluation and diagnosis.
As Orlando medical malpractice lawyers we find that needless injury and death results when doctors fail to prepare a differential diagnosis. Too often doctors make careless assumptions. Obviously if a doctor does not consider and rule out all potential life-threatening conditions, the patient's well-being is needlessly put in jeopardy. Yet, when this occurs rarely do the doctors or hospitals take responsibility for the needless injury or death. Rather, the medical malpractice lawyers hired by the doctors and hospitals try to avoid any discussion of the need to do a differential diagnosis. Unless the patient's lawyer focuses on the importance of the differential diagnosis the defense may succeed in making the case appear complex and confusing.
