Doctors get diagnoses wrong more often than you'd think. Sometimes it's a minor error that doesn't cause lasting problems. Other times, a missed or incorrect diagnosis can derail your entire life.
Our friends at The Law Office of Bennett M. Cohen work with people who've been harmed by diagnostic mistakes. A medical malpractice lawyer can help you figure out whether your situation gives you legal grounds to pursue compensation.
What Actually Qualifies as Misdiagnosis
Misdiagnosis isn't just one thing. Your doctor might tell you that you have a disease you don't actually have. They might completely miss a serious condition. Or they might eventually get it right, but only after a dangerous delay that allows your illness to progress. What matters isn't just that your doctor made a mistake. It's whether that mistake violated the standard of care and caused you real, measurable harm.
Building a Medical Malpractice Case
You can't sue every time a doctor gets something wrong. California law sets a high bar. You've got to prove four distinct elements:
- Duty of care – A doctor-patient relationship existed
- Breach of duty – The doctor's care fell below what's medically acceptable
- Causation – The misdiagnosis directly led to your injury
- Damages – You suffered actual, documented harm
That breach of duty element is tricky. According to California Civil Jury Instructions, doctors must provide the same level of skill and care that other reasonably careful physicians would use under similar circumstances. It's not about perfection. It's about competence.
When Misdiagnosis Causes Real Damage
Certain conditions get misdiagnosed at alarming rates. Cancer. Heart attacks. Strokes. Serious infections. These aren't minor oversights. Think about this scenario. You go to the emergency room with chest pain. The doctor tells you it's just acid reflux and sends you home. You're actually having a heart attack, and the delay causes permanent damage to your heart muscle. That's not bad luck. That's potential malpractice. The same goes for a radiologist who misses an obvious tumor on your scan or an emergency physician who dismisses stroke symptoms as vertigo.
What Evidence You'll Need
Medical malpractice cases don't succeed on your word alone. You need hard evidence. Medical records tell part of the story, but they're not enough. You'll almost certainly need expert testimony from another physician in the same specialty. They'll review everything and explain whether the misdiagnosis violated accepted medical standards. These experts describe what a competent doctor should have recognized, what tests should have been ordered, and how the situation should have been handled differently.
California's Statute of Limitations
Don't wait too long to act. California gives you a limited window. Under California Code of Civil Procedure Section 340.5, you typically have three years from the injury date or one year from when you discovered it, whichever happens first. There are exceptions for certain situations, but they're narrow. Miss your deadline, and you lose your right to file, no matter how strong your case might be.
What You Can Recover
If you prove your case, California law allows you to recover different types of damages:
- Medical bills, both past and future
- Lost income and reduced earning capacity
- Physical pain and suffering
- Emotional distress and mental anguish
California does place caps on non-economic damages in some medical malpractice situations, though recent changes to the law have started raising those limits.
Moving Forward After Misdiagnosis
If a doctor's diagnostic error has damaged your health, strained your finances, or upended your life, you don't have to accept it quietly. Start by gathering your medical records and documenting everything you remember about your treatment. Then talk to someone who understands how medical malpractice law works in California. The right legal guidance can help you hold negligent providers accountable and recover the compensation you need to rebuild.
