Are doctors protected from consequences when it comes to misdiagnosis/general incompetence?

I hope my question makes sense, I used misdiagnosis in my title but I mean misdiagnosis because they are being lazy, not a genuine mistake.

I’m sure there are countless times where doctors have disregarded patients’ complaints and treated for other ailments. My friend’s husband (now deceased) was being treated at the VA Hospital for a sore throat when he actually had a cancerous tumor on his tongue, which spread and eventually killed him. That’s just one example.

This is why many doctors will do testing to rule out other things before treating something.

As for whether someone has a case for a liability suit, it would probably depend on the state and the laws in their state.

An attorney told me once that when you try to sue a doctor, not only is it a ton of money laid out (because you need to pay another doctor to testify against them, and 30 years ago it was 5k for a day of testimony, so I don’t know what it would be now) but he said most doctors don’t want to testify against another doctor, so there’s that.

Doctors have been dismissing women’s’ Concerns forever, often without consequence. Technically, on paper, they are supposed to be held accountable, in real life it is often not so. Unless a condition is so obvious that that it is almost impossible to misdiagnose, our concerns are easy for so many to ignore.
You are much more likely to be treated fairly and seriously if your medical provider is a woman of color.

Pursuing punitive action would likely be a difficult and onerous process, young women have little to no credibility.

I believe that most (or all) doctors are required to have malpractice insurance.

Here’s the basic idea. There’s this concept called the “standard of care” which is defined professionally by MD’s and is based on evidence as well as balancing the risks of a given treatment/therapy against the potential benefits of said intervention.

If an MD is practicing within the standard of care, and something bad happens to you, that’s not considered their fault because they’re essentially doing “what they’re supposed to do.” Those standards can and do evolve over time as more data comes out, but it’s always based on trying to help patients in the best ways modern medicine knows how to. MDs can and do make mistakes and this is when we talk about failing to meet the standards of care that their profession expects. Sometimes people have issues for which there are no known good treatments, or the ones that are effective are still considered “experimental.”

It can be pretty difficult for someone who isn’t a physician to understand if certain approaches to treatment meet the standard of care or not (Doctor Google doesn’t cut it, I’m afraid) and so that is why it’s always a good idea to get a second opinion from another MD if things aren’t improving or you’re concerned your provider is not meeting the standard of care. I’m sorry this happened to you and best wishes for a resolution to your symptoms.

As far as “blowing people off” there is a term in medicine called “abandonment” that has very serious legal implications, but there are strict definitions for when that occurs. IANAL and this is a complex area of law and medicine that I’m not comfortable expanding upon, suffice to say that there can be legal ramifications for “blowing off” a patient under certain circumstances.

Thank you all. I used myself as an example, but I also know this has happened to my mom when she was my age and she legit almost died because it was sepsis or something from a gull bladder issue and they dismissed it as period pain.

Myself and my mother are not the only women to experience this obviously, nor the only people in general. So I just wonder, at what point do they no longer get to use the standard of care thing you talk about as an excuse.

I am a bit jaded when it comes to the medical care system, so I am probably biased.

@SergeantQueen I’m not an MD, but I would imagine ruling out a problem with the gallbladder (and other organs too) is part of the standard of care for abdominal pain.

I don’t think it’s an excuse. It’s not like MD’s are trying to hurt people or get away with not treating sick people. The pay is decent, but you could make 10x, 100x the money hurting people for a living as an insurance executive or running a vulture company that buys companies in distress and then fires all of the workers and sells all of the assets off. I guess I see MDs a group of people pursuing a noble profession that prioritizes helping others above other things.

I can’t tell you how many times my dad would have to go into the emergency room at 3AM on a Saturday night to operate on a patient who had an emergency, with no health insurance so he’d be paid nothing for his time. You don’t get into a profession like that if you’re not concerned about the well-being of other people.

Yeah, you are right it is not an excuse I am just mad and in pain right not which is what prompted me to ask. How much can we hold them accountable? But what you say makes sense, thank you. Easy to want to blame someone with stuff like this.

You are biased with good reason. You often have to be your own tireless advocate. W9men with visible husbands are taken more seriously, women who have learned the jargon are also taken more seriously. Access to the internet is both a blessing and a curse. You will have the medicos rolling their eyes if you mention information (even good, solid, valid, information) that has been learned online.

I have had twice in my life where conditions were literally killing me because the old, white man, doctors were dismissing me, so it took years to be correctly diagnosed. Both situations, 20 years apart, could have been easily diagnosed had anyone bothered. The first time I lost half of a kidney, the second time was cancer that became advanced before diagnosis was finally achieved.
In both cases I was sick and weak and relieved to be treated and didn’t follow past a few attempts of being badgered and not believed and threatened with counter suits for even exploring the possibility of some kind of accountability.

Sounds like your issue is with your PCP (Primary Care Physician), get a OB/GYN that is use to cramps and pains during monthly cycle.

“An OB/GYN that specializes in treating cramps and pains during a monthly cycle is typically referred to as a doctor who can manage dysmenorrhea; this means they can diagnose and treat painful periods, often utilizing treatments like hormonal birth control (pills, patch, ring, IUD) to alleviate symptoms.”. Google AI

It is a second opinion !

No. That’s why their insurance is sky high.

@SergeantQueen MD’s do make mistakes and they’re not ALL saints or perfect humanitarians. I’m just saying that on the whole, they tend to be good people. Wishing you a quick resolution to your situation. Pain is very hard to live with. You explicitly asked to not be given advice, so I’ll just send the positive vibes.

Thank you. I was just making it clear I was not looking for medical advice about my issue, but I am open to other kinds. Sometimes I think my questions get confused that I am looking for personal advice. Sometimes I ask general questions but just use a relevant personal example because I suck at making stuff up.

I have been doing some research into the problem I think I have, not self diagnosing just making sure I know what to ask for because I guess I have to tell them what to do, they won’t listen

Standard of care is the answer. If the doctor can argue standard of care they will be protected.

It really depends how obvious your symptoms would lead to the right tests being ordered or the right diagnosis.

It sucks.

Women are dismissed all of the time, it is very stressful. People will say you need to advocate for yourself, but that sentence is good advice and very annoying and saddening all at once. It is exhausting having to go from doctor to doctor to try to get an answer; and if you do it, some people will accuse you of doctor shopping just to hear what you want to hear.

A bit off topic, but yes, male doctors have been a big problem. It has been a matter of ignorance, not malice.

Obvious because of America’s Puritan beginnings, men were the only ones allowed to be a doctor.
In 1848, The Boston Female Medical College opened.
The first woman to obtain a medical degree, was in 1849.

It’s taken time to realize, that the sexes actually present different symptoms. I guess men who dominated the field, thought a person is a person.

Efforts to more thoroughly understand the differences, are under way.

As far as malpractice, all legally practicing doctors have to have malpractice insurance. I’ve heard it’s extremely expensive…

I’m extremely jaded regarding what we call “modern medicine”. I’ve been misdiagnosed or dismissed more times than I can count, and so have my family members and others. It’s so commonplace that it’s easier to move on and either solve your own problem, or find a better doctor.

No, @MrGrimm888, you are mistaken. Malice is often the case. Rough handling, being told to “suck it up, it’s not that bad”, harsh catheter insertion while being told to “stop being a baby” at a gasp of pain, having a doctor write “hysteria” on a chart then snapping because he’s called on it. And so on, and so on.
All of those were different doctors over three states.

The point is, @SergeantQueen, as I said before, you will need to be your own advocate. Take a close friend to appointments, set your phone to record them, (audio) if you can. Notify the practitioner that you are doing that so that you can review their instructions.

Be well, and take no crap.

^Maybe once, I was mistaken.
I don’t believe that to be the case, currently. I have no doubt there are exceptions, but I don’t believe that “malice,” is “often” the cause of most women’s health issues in America.

You’re advocate advice is great, but the OP goes to great lengths to ask for NO ADVICE…Which you gave…

^^^ <eyeroll> Your experience as a woman is simply not as extensive as mine.
And your pissy little add-on is just silly.

^Relevance to Q?

Here is a link to National Library of Medicince to what they do in the US related to Medical Malpractice.

The injured patient must show that the physician acted negligently in rendering care, and that such negligence resulted in injury. To do so, four legal elements must be proven: (1) a professional duty owed to the patient; (2) breach of such duty; (3) injury caused by the breach; and (4) resulting damages.

It depends upon the state. Anybody can sue anybody for anything and if a physician does something grossly negligent and you can prove it in court then you could possibly win something. Personal injury lawyers make a living doing this.

You can also make a complaint to the medical board of the state which is a separate process. You won’t get any money, but if the complaint is valid then the medical board can investigate the physician and impose penalties if found negligent after an investigation.

In direct answer to the question which was a yes/no question the answer is “it depends”. The best answers on this thread are by @gorillapaws

Thank you

Give us the facts.