Damages for Failure to Diagnose Appendicitis

If your doctor failed to diagnose appendicitis, you may be wondering what your remedies are. A failure to diagnose it can result in a ruptured appendix that leads to a release of toxic substances inside your organs, along with peritonitis or sepsis. In some cases, families lose their loved ones due to a failure to diagnose appendicitis and a wrongful death lawsuit should be filed. Let the trustworthy Syracuse medical malpractice lawyers of DeFrancisco & Falgiatano Personal Injury Attorneys help you seek redress. We are trial lawyers who understand the complexities of these types of cases, and the additional procedural hurdles that need to be crossed when suing a health care provider

Whether you have pain on the right side of your lower abdomen, pain that worsens when you cough or walk, nausea, vomiting, or loss of appetite, your doctor, along with his or her medical team should be alert to the possibility of appendicitis and handle your case according to the accepted practices and standards that apply to the situation. In some cases a failure to diagnose appendicitis can be lifesaving.

Unfortunately doctors and other providers do make errors in diagnosis. They may have misdiagnosed you with kidney stones, failed to conduct a differential diagnosis, failed to complete the proper tests, failed to order an emergency surgery, misread imaging studies, or failed to follow up with you. When these things happen and you suffer harm, our attorneys may be able to bring a medical malpractice lawsuit for damages on your behalf.

In order to establish that a failure to diagnose appendicitis was malpractice, we will need to prove it’s more likely than not: (1) the defendant owed you a professional standard of care, (2) breach of the professional standard of care, (3) causation, and (4) damages.

Failure to diagnose (or misdiagnosis ) can result in complications that are harder or more expensive to treat. Your appendix could burst, resulting in potentially life threatening infections. Peritonitis, in which the lining of the abdomen becomes infected, could occur, and your internal organs could be damaged, necessitating other surgeries and procedures and medication, all of which is expensive. It’s important to be alert to potential symptoms, and to seek immediate medical care.

For instance, if you developed sepsis because you were diagnosed with a UTI due to an ER doctor’s failure to consult a surgeon about suspicious signs of appendicitis, and then you developed sepsis as a result of failure to diagnose, you may need a long and painful hospital stay, sometimes more than a few weeks, to recover from a ruptured appendix. In that situation, the ER doctor and hospital could be held liable for failure to diagnose and remain accountable for damages that might be extremely expensive, and for which you may not have saved.

Damages our attorneys may be able to recover when we are able to prove liability include:

• Past, present, and future medical expenses;
• Lost income when you were unable to work due to the time spent hospitalized for failure to diagnose;
• Pain and suffering;
• Loss of enjoyment of life due to complications of failure to diagnose appendicitis;
• Loss of consortium;
• Replacement services;
• Out-of-pocket expenses.

When we can establish liability for your loved one’s wrongful death as a result of failure to diagnose appendicitis, we may be able to recover damages such as medical expenses, lost wages, lost inheritance, and funeral and burial expenses, along with loss of services and support. If your loved one experienced conscious pain and suffering from undiagnosed appendicitis, that, too, may be quantified and recovered as an item of loss.

You may be able to recover damages if your doctor failed to diagnose appendicitis in Syracuse. The seasoned trial attorneys of DeFrancisco & Falgiatano Personal Injury Attorneys represents clients in Syracuse, Rochester, Watertown, Oswego, Oneida, Utica, Elmira, Lyons, Cooperstown, Binghamton, Canandaigua Lowville, Herkimer, Wampsville, Auburn, Ithaca, and throughout Upstate New York. Please call us at 833-200-2000 or complete our online form.