Misdiagnosis claims involve a clinically wrong diagnosis: the practitioner identified a condition, but identified the wrong one, and the patient was treated for the wrong condition or denied treatment for the right one. Misdiagnosis is distinct from failure to diagnose (where no diagnosis was made) and from delayed diagnosis (where the correct diagnosis was eventually made but reached too late).
Common contexts for misdiagnosis include cancer (where benign findings are read as malignant or the reverse), cardiac presentations (where myocardial infarction is misread as a non-cardiac condition or the reverse), stroke (where transient ischemic attack or full stroke is read as migraine, intoxication, or anxiety), and infection (where sepsis is read as a viral illness). Anchoring bias, where the first plausible diagnosis is held onto despite contradicting evidence, is a recurring theme in the academic and judicial literature on misdiagnosis.
The standard of care analysis in a misdiagnosis claim focuses on whether a reasonable practitioner in the same circumstances would have reached the same incorrect diagnosis. Causation focuses on the difference the correct diagnosis would have made to outcome, which is often the harder element to prove.
Posts tagged Misdiagnosis analyze Ontario decisions involving wrong-diagnosis fact patterns across multiple specialties.
A defence motion for a neuropsychological assessment was refused eight years after the statement of defence in a complex pediatric malpractice case.
September 2023 coverage in CP24 and the Brampton Guardian of the Thompson v Handler trial decision finding an ER physician negligent for the death of a 34-year-old mother.
Roughly 9% of strokes are initially misdiagnosed in the emergency setting. A practical guide to how stroke claims are investigated and proven in Ontario.
A trial judge dismissed a medical malpractice claim against two ER physicians, finding the standard of care was met and that earlier testing would not have changed the outcome.
Most ER visits are for minor concerns. For the small number that are not, missing the diagnosis can be fatal. Five conditions that recur in malpractice cases.
Ectopic pregnancy is a leading cause of first-trimester maternal death. When the diagnosis is delayed, the consequences can be catastrophic.
Sepsis is one of medicine’s most time-sensitive diagnoses. When it is missed, the consequences are catastrophic and often preventable.
A missed diagnosis of compartment syndrome cost a patient her leg. The trial judge found the ER physician breached the standard of care.
Most bad outcomes in medicine are not malpractice. After two decades of these cases in Ontario, here are the signs worth taking seriously.
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