Physician's Failure to Communicate Test Results

While the field of healthcare has enjoyed many creative innovations, inadequate communication between physicians and their patients remains an enormous problem. In fact, the failure to communicate test results accounts for almost half of the medical errors made by general practitioners and primary care doctors in the United States. Unfortunately, the consequences from these errors can be devastating.

A primary care physician typically receives hundreds of lab reports, radiology reports, pathology reports, and other diagnostic test results each week concerning patients under his/her care.

Each physician is responsible for relaying this information to the patient promptly and accurately so the patient can obtain the most effective treatment available for his/her condition.

When a doctor neglects this responsibility, critical treatment can be delayed and chances of a favorable outcome can be decreased considerably. This is especially true of pathology results which reveal malignant cancers and other conditions which progress over time, becoming even more difficult to treat and/or cure. The attorneys at Burnside Wall LLP have experience representing people who have suffered injury, death or decreased life expectancy on account of a physician's failure to communicate test results to the patient in a timely fashion.

If you have suffered injury or delay in treatment because your physician failed to follow up with you in a timely fashion to advise you of test results from one of the following procedures, call one of the lawyers at Burnside Wall LLP for a free initial consultation to learn more about your legal rights:

• Breast mammogram
• Breast biopsy
• Pap smear
• Electrocardiogram (EKG and ECG)
• X-rays, CT scan, MRI, ultrasound or other radiological test
• Biopsies (skin, bone marrow, vital organs)
• Blood work, lab work or other chemical analysis
• Blood culture

The lawyers at Burnside Wall LLP have a history of success representing people injured because of a doctor's failure to communicate test results in a timely fashion. To learn more about a medical malpractice claim for an injury related to such failure, please contact a lawyer at the law firm of Burnside Wall LLP for a free initial consultation.