Doctor Wrongly Diagnosed Man, Telling Him He Had Terminal Brain Cancer

Imagine being told that you have terminal brain cancer and only a few months left to live. How would you respond to such a bleak diagnosis? Montana resident Mark Templin believed the diagnosis and quit his job. He sold his pickup truck, celebrated what he thought would be his last birthday, made prepaid funeral arrangements, and even contemplated suicide. Then he waited for the inevitable. Miraculously, Templin began to feel better, and further medical testing revealed that Templin did not have brain cancer-he had suffered a series of small strokes.

A federal judge in May of 2013 ordered Fort Harrison VA Medical Center to pay Templin nearly $60,000, ruling that Dr. Patrick Morrow’s “negligent failure to meet the standard of care” with misdiagnosing Templin with terminal brain cancer in 2009 caused Templin and his family great emotional distress.

Fortunately for Templin, his misdiagnosis did not result in permanent physical damage or death. Many victims of misdiagnosis are not as fortunate. In a study by the JAMA Internal Medicine, over 150,000 patients a year suffered from a worsened medical condition or fatal medical error as a result of doctor errors. Missed or wrong diagnoses are the cause of more patient injuries and deaths than any other mistakes made by health care providers.

The study suggests that patients should be involved in their medical care by doing the following:

• Come to the doctor’s office prepared to give the doctor all of the relevant information about the nature and timing of your symptoms
• Question your doctor about the diagnosis-ask about other possibilities of what it could be
• If new symptoms develop or symptoms worsen, see your doctor immediately

What Should You Do If You Suspect a Misdiagnosis or Doctor Error?
Patients or their families who have suffered from a misdiagnosed illness or fatal medical error have the right to pursue compensation for their doctor’s negligence. Contact the Colorado medical malpractice attorneys at Paulsen & Armitage, LLC for a free initial consultation and immediate assistance.  

Why Are Doctors Sued for Malpractice?

What medical errors result in the most medical malpractice payments? Birth injuries? Surgical errors? Medication mistakes? According to a recent study cited by the New York Times, errors in diagnosis account for 28.6 percent of malpractice payments, making it the most common cause of claims paid against health care practitioners. Errors related to treatment came in second, and errors related to surgery were third. All other errors combined- including medication, monitoring, anesthesia, and obstetrics- accounted for only 20 percent of malpractice payments.

Diagnostic Errors are Common and Deadly
Misdiagnosis resulted in over 100,000 medical malpractice payments from 1986 to 2010. Diagnostic errors were cited as the cause of 44 percent of all deaths and 33.8 percent of all disabilities in cases resulting in malpractice payments.

The study analyzed 350,706 paid medical malpractice claims over a 25 year period from 1986 to 2010. The study concluded that, “Among malpractice claims, diagnostic errors appear to be the most common, most costly and most dangerous of medical mistakes. We found roughly equal numbers of lethal and non-lethal errors in our analysis, suggesting that the public health burden of diagnostic errors could be twice that previously estimated. Healthcare stakeholders should consider diagnostic safety a critical health policy issue.”

For further information, see the study published in BMJ Quality and Safety.

Experienced Colorado Medical Malpractice Lawyers Can Help You
If you or a loved one has been injured as a result of a misdiagnosis or other medical error, contact the Colorado medical malpractice attorneys at Paulsen & Armitage, LLC for a free case evaluation and immediate assistance.