California allows radiology patients to sue if they suffer from diagnostic errors. Being misdiagnosed with cancer is the most common complaint that leads to serious injuries or death. Radiology patients file thousands of claims for cancer-related diagnostic errors every year.
The frequency of cancer-related errors
Diagnostic errors related to cancer are the most common complaints in radiology malpractice cases. At least 44% of radiology cases involve cancer misdiagnoses, according to a medical study. Tens of thousands of preventable injuries occur due to misdiagnoses every year.
Since 2017, radiology has consisted of only 3.9% of claims, yet 44% of those radiology cases involved cancer, which is more than any other health ailment. In medical malpractice in general, a cancer misdiagnosis is the most common high-severity diagnostic error followed by an infection or vascular accident.
Legal cases of radiology malpractice
Civil courts allow misdiagnosed patients to file medical malpractice claims against doctors and medical facilities. They can receive financial compensation to cover their medical bills, living expenses and non-economic damages that include pain and suffering. The cap limit for non-economic damages is $250,000 according to California’s medical malpractice laws.
There are additional limits to filing lawsuits. The statute of limitations for filing personal injury claims is three years in the state of California. In certain cases when the discovery process is delayed, an additional year is added.
The high rates of high-severity misdiagnoses
Many radiology patients file claims against doctors who misdiagnose their conditions of cancer. In general, medical malpractice cases involve the misinterpretation of medical imaging results. This leads to the misdiagnosis of a serious disease that causes the worsening of symptoms and a preventable injury or death.
