Syracuse Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury Lawyer Blog
Lyme disease can have a devastating impact on a patient’s life. If you have suffered harm because a doctor failed to diagnose or treat Lyme disease properly, you may have a medical malpractice case on your hands. Our Syracuse medical negligence attorneys are dedicated to helping victims of medical malpractice pursue the compensation they rightfully deserve for their injuries. These cases are very difficult and it is vital to have a skilled legal advocate who can provide advice and assistance throughout your case.
What is Lyme Disease?
Lyme disease is an infectious disease caused by bacteria called Borrelia, which is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected blacklegged ticks. Symptoms commonly associated with the disease include fatigue, headache, fever and a skin rash that looks like a bulls eye. This distinct rash is the hallmark of the infection. The disease is often misdiagnosed for two main reasons: the disease can affect each person differently and the symptoms of the disease often resemble the symptoms of other conditions. Left undiagnosed and untreated, however, Lyme disease can affect your joints, heart and nervous system.
Lyme Disease Malpractice
Lyme disease malpractice typically occurs when a patient is incorrectly diagnosed or not diagnosed at all. Both a misdiagnosis and missed diagnosis can be a very serious issue for the patient: a misdiagnosis can mean time spent treating a condition that isn’t actually present, which can take time away from treating the real condition whereas a missed diagnosis can mean no treatment at all. Both of these scenarios can lead to a worsened health condition for a patient.
Due to the difficulty of diagnosing Lyme disease, a medical professional who fails to accurately diagnose Lyme disease is not automatically liable for malpractice. Rather, medical malpractice occurs when a doctor fails to diagnose Lyme diseases because his or her actions failed to conform to the actions that a reasonably competent doctor would have taken under the same and similar situation. In every medical malpractice case, the burden of proof is on the plaintiff (i.e., the party filing the lawsuit). To win the case, the plaintiff is required to show the following elements by a preponderance of the evidence:
- Duty: the doctor owed the patient a duty of care;
- Breach: the doctor breached the duty of care owed to the patient;
- Injury: the doctor’s breach was a direct cause of the patient’s injury; and
- Damages: the patient suffered quantifiable harm as a result.
Highly Skilled Syracuse Medical Malpractice Lawyers
If you or someone you love has Lyme disease that was misdiagnosed, you may be entitled to compensation for your harm. At DeFrancisco & Falgiatano Personal Injury Lawyers, our diligent and hard-working Syracuse misdiagnosis attorneys will help protect your rights every step of the way. We strongly believe negligent medical providers should be held accountable for the harm that they cause, which is why we will help you recover full and fair damages in your case. Contact our team today at 833-200-2000 or contact us online.
More Blog Posts:
Malpractice Related to Osteomyelitis in Syracuse, Syracuse Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury Lawyer Blog, October 25, 2018
Balloon Angioplasty Malpractice in Syracuse, Syracuse Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury Lawyer Blog, October 18, 2018
