Radiology Malpractice
Radiology is a field within medicine that deals primarily with the interpretation of diagnostic films such as x-rays, CT scans, MRIs, ultrasounds, sonograms, and other forms of imaging of the body.
Radiologists review these images for signs of anything from broken bones and tumors to internal bleeding and paralysis. Over the course of the last two decades, radiologists have been among the most sued healthcare providers when it comes to medical malpractice cases. In most of these cases, it is alleged that the radiologist breached their duty of care by misinterpreting or misreading a patient’s scan, resulting in a missed, delayed, or false diagnosis
Some of the most common radiology malpractice cases involve missed cancerous tumors or missed injuries to the spinal cord leading to paralysis.
The failure to diagnose a cancerous tumor can often be fatal because the patient will often not get a repeat set of radiology scans for months or even years after the erroneously read set of scans. This passage of time can cause a patient’s ultimate prognosis to take a turn for the worst. Of course, how aggressive the missed cancerous tumor is (i.e., how quickly it is growing or changing from a low-grade to a high-grade tumor) plays a significant role in how critical a misread film can be in a patient’s prognosis.
At Silverman Thompson, our lawyers routinely handle cases in which radiologists fail to recognize and diagnose serious medical conditions, including but certainly not limited to tumors, fractures, lung nodules, and infected fluid collections.
A 2016 study reported that there is a 3-5% day-to-day radiology error resulting in some harm to the patient. Because an early diagnosis can be crucial to a patient’s treatment course and eventual survival, it is easy to see why radiology errors can prove to be so harmful to patients.
In addition to a radiologist misreading a film or study, errors can occur from miscommunication between the radiologist and physician who ordered the study. For example, radiologists are trained to immediately report potentially harmful results directly to the ordering physician. If the radiologist merely reports their findings in the patient’s chart and does not let the physician know, a delay in treatment could occur and result in irreversible harm to the patient.
Finally, many radiology errors occur because the scans that are obtained are not “optimal” or readable by the radiologist because the patient was moving during the test or they had some sort of bodily implant (metal) that obscured the area in question. Issues arise when the radiologist goes ahead and gives an interpretation notwithstanding the poor film quality, and that interpretation turns out to be erroneous. The failure of the radiologist to indicate in their report that the scans were sub-optimal and therefore alert the physician that another set of scans should be ordered may be considered negligence resulting in a missed or false diagnosis.
If you or a loved one has been affected by radiology malpractice, it is critical to have an informed, detail-oriented, and dedicated medical malpractice attorney who will tirelessly advocate for you and your case. Please contact Andrew G. Slutkin and Ethan S. Nochumowitz for a free consultation at 800-385-2243.