How Much Compensation Can I Claim For A Medical Misdiagnosis?

By Jo Anderson. Last Updated 24th July 2023. If you have received a misdiagnosis and, due to this, you have suffered unnecessary harm, you may be able to make a medical misdiagnosis claim. However, you would also need to prove that a medical professional breached their duty of care, and this is what resulted in you suffering harm.

Within this guide, we will explain in more detail the eligibility criteria you must meet for misdiagnosis compensation claims, as well as the duty of care all healthcare professionals owe their patients. We will also explore the different ways a misdiagnosis could occur, and the evidence that could be used to help support your medical negligence claim. Finally, this guide will end by looking at how one of our No Win No Fee solicitors could help support your claim.

If you have any questions after finishing this guide, such as ‘How much compensation for a misdiagnosis could I receive?’ you can contact one of our friendly advisors. They can also offer you free advice for your potential claim. They can be reached via:

Medical misdiagnosis

Medical misdiagnosis

Select a Section:

  1. What Is A Medical Misdiagnosis?
  2. Examining The Three Types of Misdiagnosis
  3. For What Reasons does Clinical Misdiagnosis Occur?
  4. At What Stage Can You Claim Misdiagnosis Compensation?
  5. Are There Limits on When You Can Claim Misdiagnosis Compensation?
  6. What is Needed to Begin a Claim for Misdiagnosis?
  7. How Much Compensation Can I Claim For Medical Misdiagnosis?
  8. Misdiagnosis Claims – No Win No Fee Solicitors
  9. Useful Links

What Is A Medical Misdiagnosis?

Have you had a wrong or delayed diagnosis? Misdiagnosis falls under the general heading of medical negligence or malpractice. Misdiagnosis occurs when a doctor or other healthcare specialist, who is responsible for accurately diagnosing your medical condition, makes a mistake and either diagnoses you with a completely different illness or vastly underestimates the seriousness of the correct medical condition.

Every medical professional has what is called a duty of care, towards their patients. If the medical professional does something that harms a patient, they will be deemed to have failed in this duty of care in a negligent manner, and cases of misdiagnosis are included in this.

If this sounds like something that has happened to you, then Accident Claims UK is your best bet for making misdiagnosis claims. If we can prove that your doctor or another member of the medical team treating you has failed in their duty of care towards you, then we will likely have a valid route to making a compensation claim for you. Call us at the number at the bottom of this page to begin your claim today.

Examining The Three Types of Misdiagnosis

Before making misdiagnosis claims, especially complex claims such as successfully winning NHS misdiagnosis compensation, the severity of the mistake needs to be discerned. Misdiagnosis can happen in many ways, and due to an even greater number of reasons. However, every case of clinical misdiagnosis will fit into one of the three types explained below:

  • Late of delayed diagnosis – in thee cases, your medical team will have not diagnosed your illness as quickly as they should have. For some patients, this is a life-threatening event. For example, a patient with advanced cancer needs rapid treatment to ensure they have the best chance of survival. A delayed diagnosis will also lead to a delay in providing the much-needed medical treatment.
  • A missed or total misdiagnosis – in these cases, a medical professional has entirely missed the onset of a medical condition, by misreading or not seeing the symptoms. Therefore, the medical condition will go untreated, and the medical condition will become worse, causing harm to the patient.
  • Mistaken or wrongful diagnosis – in these cases, the medical professional will read the symptoms of a medical condition wrongly, diagnosing it as something completely different. In this situation, the real medical condition will go untreated, and potentially become much worse. The patient will also be subjected to the treatment for the wrong illness, which could be harmful.

Every potential case of medical misdiagnosis will fit somewhere into these three categories. However, it is possible that in some cases, the misdiagnosis will be a composite of two of these categories. For example, it could be both a wrongful diagnosis and a delayed diagnosis.

Accident Claims UK can help you to decide which type of clinical diagnosis your case is, all you need to do is call us on the number at the bottom of this page.

For What Reasons Does Clinical Misdiagnosis Occur?

There are many reasons why people need to make a medical misdiagnosis compensation claim. The typical reasons why clinical misdiagnosis occurs are:

  • Lack of diligence – on the part of the doctor or specialist examining the patient. This lack of diligence results in the diagnosis being incorrect, as symptoms are overlooked or misread.
  • Mistakes – on the part of the doctor or specialist examining the patient. In this case, the doctor mistakes the symptoms of one medical condition, for those of another.
  • Misreading results – such as x-rays, blood test, tissue samples, etc. When the results of medical tests are misread, this can lead directly to a misdiagnosis.
  • Insufficient training – by allowing a patient to be examined by a member of the medical staff, such as a junior doctor or intern, without the proper training and experience, can lead to a misdiagnosis.

No matter how your particular case of misdiagnosis occurred, Accident Claims UK can help you claim for it, call us at the number at the bottom of this page to find out how we can help.

At What Stage Can You Claim Misdiagnosis Compensation?

Before making medical misdiagnosis claims on behalf of our clients, we need to ensure that the victim is actually able to make a claim and has a viable reason to do so.

As a rule of thumbs, you will be ready to claim compensation for medical negligence, once it has been proven that the misdiagnosis itself has caused harm to you in some way. This will either be due to an existing medical condition going untreated, or the harmful effects of receiving the wrong treatment. Call Accident Claims UK on the number at the bottom of this page to find out if we think we can claim misdiagnosis compensation for you in your case.

Are There Limits On When You Can Claim Misdiagnosis Compensation?

In general, there is a 3-year time limit on making compensation claims for medical negligence, starting from the time the incident of misdiagnosis occurred.

In certain circumstances, this time limit can be extended, however, this happens very infrequently. If you have been the victim of clinical misdiagnosis, it is crucial that you contact us at Accident Claims UK as soon as possible, so that your claim is made well within this time limit. You can contact us at the number down at the bottom of this page.

What Is Needed To Begin A Claim For Misdiagnosis?

You would need to be able to prove that the misdiagnosis has lead to a worsening of your medical condition, or the contracting of one or more additional ones. This will likely require a local medical examination, the results of which will be an impartial medical opinion, and we can use this to support your claim.

This medical opinion needs to prove that you have been suffering from pain, mental anguish, loss of mobility, etc. And it needs to prove emphatically that the misdiagnosis is the cause.

If this can be proven, then the medical professional that made the misdiagnosis will be deemed to have failed in their duty of care towards you, the patient. This will mean we can likely help you to claim compensation for the misdiagnosis and the effect it has had on your life. Call us at the number at the bottom of this page to learn more, and to begin your claim.

How Much Compensation Can I Claim For Medical Misdiagnosis?

Following a successful claim for a misdiagnosis, your compensation settlement should include general damages. This compensated you for the harm you have suffered due to medical negligence.

Using the figures listed in the 16th edition of the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG), we have created the following table. This is to help you gain a clearer idea of how much you could receive in general damages following a successful claim for a medical misdiagnosis. We have referenced the JCG’s figures, as it lists compensation brackets for various injuries at different severity levels. The figures are based on previous successful cases, many legal professionals also use the JCG to help them value claims.

However, the compensation you could receive may differ from those listed below. This is because the factors of your claim could affect how much you receive. So, please only use this table as a guide.

Edit
Injury Notes Amount
Female Reproductive System Infertility with severe depression and sexual dysfunction and may have been caused due to failure to diagnose an ectopic pregnancy. £114,900 to £170,280
Bowels Total loss of the bowels natural function and the person may depend on a colostomy depending on their age. Up to £150,110
Epilepsy Established Petit Mal epilepsy. How much is awarded will be affected by various factors, such as the effect on working/social life, the prognosis, and whether attacks can be controlled with medication. £54,830 to £131,370
Lung Disease Lung cancer that impairs the lungs function and causes severe pain. Is usually applicable where lung cancer is present in an older person. £70,030 to £97,330
Lung Disease Worsening lung function with impaired breathing due to a disease such as emphysema. £54,830 to £70,030
Bladder Serious impairment of the bladder’s control with some incontinence and pain. £63,980 to £79,930
Chest Injuries Damage to the lungs and chest that result in a continuing disability. £31,310 to £54,830
Kidney One kidney suffers no damage despite the other kidney being lost. £30,770 to £44,880
Asthma Chronic asthma that requires the person to use an inhaler frequently due to breathing problems. £26,290 to £43,010
Digestive System (b)(iv) For a few days/weeks the person will suffer with cramps, pain and diarrhoea. £910 to £3,950

Additionally, your settlement may also include special damages. This compensates you for the financial losses you suffered due to being harmed by medical negligence. This could include:

  • Care costs.
  • Medical expenses.
  • Loss of earnings.
  • Travel costs.

Providing evidence of these financial losses, such as bank statements, could help support your claim.

Contact our advisors today if you have any questions regarding medical misdiagnosis claims. They could also provide you with free legal advice regarding your specific claim.

Misdiagnosis Claims – No Win No Fee Solicitors

If you are eligible to make a medical misdiagnosis claim, one of our solicitors may be able to help you with your case. They could assist you with gathering evidence, guiding you through the medical negligence claims process and explaining any legal jargon that may be used during the process of your claim.

Furthermore, they may offer their services to you on a No Win No Fee basis under a Conditional Fee Agreement. When you make a medical misdiagnosis compensation claim under this arrangement, your solicitor will not ask you to pay any fees for their services upfront or while your claim is processing. They also won’t ask you to pay for the work they have provided should your claim be unsuccessful.

In the event that your claim does succeed, your solicitor will take a success fee from you. This fee is deducted directly from your compensation award, and there is a legal cap in place for the percentage that they can take as this fee.

To find out if you could be eligible to work with one of our No Win No Fee solicitors, or if you still have any remaining questions, such as ‘How much compensation for a misdiagnosis could I receive?’, you can contact our advisors. They can be reached by:

Useful Links

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