Missed diagnoses and delayed diagnoses can have a serious impact on patient health. A delay in diagnosing cancer can allow the disease to progress and limit a patient's opportunities for recovery. Failure to diagnose a spinal injury in a timely fashion could lead to permanent damage or even paralysis. Missing the warning signs of a heart attack or stroke could be fatal. While not every case of misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis is medical malpractice, many are.

The Ohio misdiagnosis attorney team at Robenalt Law understands the trust you place in your healthcare provider and the devastating consequences their negligence can have. We proudly represent people in Cleveland, Columbus, Toledo, Akron, and across Ohio, fighting for those who were harmed by misdiagnosis and delayed diagnosis and helping them recover full and fair compensation by holding negligent healthcare providers accountable for the harm their errors cause.

The Scope of Harm Caused by a Diagnostic Error

A 2024 study conducted by researchers at Johns Hopkins estimated that diagnostic errors across all care settings, including hospitals, emergency departments, and outpatient clinics, cause approximately 795,000 Americans to die or be permanently disabled every year.

That same research revealed that the harm was concentrated in a small number of areas where a delayed diagnosis allows a treatable condition to progress, including stroke and other vascular events, infections such as sepsis, and cancers. The misdiagnosis lawyers at Robenalt Law have seen firsthand how a misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis in exactly these categories affects a person’s life, often with disastrous consequences.

Common Types of Diagnostic Errors

Unfortunately, not every healthcare provider responds reasonably to a patient’s symptoms.

• Missed diagnosis occurs when a medical condition is present, but the healthcare provider fails to identify it, attributing the symptoms to a less serious or unrelated cause. Robenalt Law has represented patients whose cancer or other serious medical condition went unrecognized despite symptoms that should have prompted additional testing.
• Wrong diagnosis means the healthcare provider identifies the wrong medical condition, leading to treatment for a condition the patient does not have while the actual condition goes untreated. Our firm has handled cases like these, tracing exactly where the diagnostic reasoning went wrong.
• Delayed diagnosis occurs when a patient’s condition is not correctly identified in a timely manner, allowing a condition like cancer, a heart attack, or a stroke to progress, worsening the outcome and delaying treatment. Robenalt Law regularly evaluates cases where delayed diagnosis is the central issue.
• Failure to refer occurs when a healthcare provider identifies symptoms that require a specialist’s evaluation but fails to refer the patient to the specialist when necessary. We have pursued medical malpractice claims based on missed referrals.

Delayed diagnosis of a spinal injury, for example, can lead to permanent damage, including paralysis. This is the precise kind of harm an accurate, timely diagnosis can prevent.

Misdiagnosis Is Different From Failure to Treat a Known Condition

Cases of misdiagnosis are distinct from failure to treat. In cases of misdiagnosis, the diagnosis itself, whether it was missed, delayed, or wrong, is the problem. Failure to treat is different because the diagnosis itself was correct but the treatment that followed was inadequate or nonexistent.

Some cases of medical malpractice involve both, such as a delayed diagnosis followed by treatment that was inadequate once the correct diagnosis was made. Because of the high-stakes nature of these claims, identifying every shortcoming in treatment is critical to building the strongest possible case. The Ohio misdiagnosis attorney team at Robenalt Law has the knowledge, skill, and experience to handle even the most complex matters.

What It Takes to Prove a Misdiagnosis Claim

Medical malpractice is a specific type of negligence that occurs when a healthcare provider fails to exercise the care that a reasonable or prudent person would use under the same or similar circumstances. To prove a claim of medical malpractice, the injured patient must prove the following four elements:

• Duty. A doctor owes a legal duty to their patient to diagnose using the same care a reasonably prudent provider would, given the same symptoms and information.
• Breach. The medical provider failed to act in accordance with the accepted standard of care, such as by missing a diagnosis entirely, arriving at the wrong diagnosis, taking too long to reach the correct diagnosis, or failing to refer the patient for testing or a specialist’s evaluation when the patient’s symptoms called for it.
• Causation. The breach actually caused the harm the patient claims, meaning an earlier or correct diagnosis would have led to a meaningfully better outcome.
• Damages. The patient suffered real, measurable harm as a result, such as additional medical bills, pain and suffering, or, in the most serious cases, death.

Proving breach and causation in a misdiagnosis case almost always requires expert testimony to prove what a reasonably prudent provider would have done under the same circumstances. Ohio Civ. R. 10(D)(2) requires an Affidavit of Merit from a qualified expert in the same field before the case can be filed. Our misdiagnosis lawyers know how to work with expert witnesses to build a solid case.

Ohio’s Filing Deadline Is Shorter Than Most People Expect

Under Ohio law, a claim for medical malpractice must be filed within one year of the date of discovering the injury. This is the shortest statute of limitations in Ohio and one of the shortest in the country.

Ohio courts have ruled that the one-year time period begins on the date the patient discovered or reasonably should have discovered the injury, or when the patient’s relationship with their medical provider ends, whichever is later. Exceptions to this rule exist, and determining when the statute of limitations begins and ends is not always clear.

A delayed diagnosis, by definition, often is not recognized as a problem until well after the original opportunity to treat it has passed. Determining exactly when the negligent act occurred can be challenging. Because a delayed diagnosis can make the statute of limitations date deceptively easy to lose track of, our Ohio medical malpractice attorneys will calculate the deadline the moment we are retained.

What Damages You Can Recover After a Misdiagnosis

Misdiagnosis can have catastrophic consequences, including death. A patient who was harmed because of a misdiagnosis can recover financial compensation, including:

• Economic damages for past and future medical expenses, including the cost of treating the condition that was allowed to progress due to the delay, as well as compensation for lost wages and diminished future earning capacity. Economic damages are not capped in Ohio.
• Non-economic damages for pain and suffering and other similar losses. These damages are capped at the greater of $250,000 or three times economic damages, whichever is greater, up to $350,000 per plaintiff or $500,000 per occurrence, rising to $500,000 per plaintiff or $1,000,000 per occurrence for catastrophic injuries.

Damage caps do not apply to claims for wrongful death. Our skilled Ohio misdiagnosis attorney team can best advise you regarding the available damages in your case.

Work with an Experienced Ohio Misdiagnosis Attorney

At Robenalt Law, we understand the devastating consequences that misdiagnosis and delayed diagnosis can have for patients and their loved ones. We help lift that burden and fight for justice. Led by founding attorney Tom Robenalt, our Ohio misdiagnosis attorney team will identify the error that occurred in your case, identify and secure the correct expert, and file your claim within Ohio’s short filing deadline.

Our firm offers free consultations and takes cases on a contingency fee basis, so most clients pay no legal fees unless we win. Call the Cleveland office at (216) 354-1915 or our Columbus office at (614)-321-8732, email trobenalt@robenaltlaw.com or use our online form to discuss your claim.