Missed Diagnosis of Ectopic Pregnancy

Did you experience an ectopic pregnancy? Did you experience the misdiagnosis of ectopic pregnancy, resulting in significant complications that could have been avoided? If you were experiencing early signs of pregnancy, you likely took a pregnancy test that confirmed a positive pregnancy. Urine and blood tests at your doctor likely also confirmed your pregnancy; however, an ultrasound of your uterus likely did not identify a fetus. Because of that, it is possible that your doctor claimed that you had miscarried. However, upon additional positive pregnancy tests and the persistence of certain pregnancy-related symptoms, your doctor might have finally checked for ectopic pregnancy.

Ectopic pregnancies can be very dangerous to pregnant women; unfortunately, because of this, ectopic pregnancies must be terminated before the risk to the woman becomes too great. If your doctor failed to diagnosed your ectopic pregnancy, it is possible that you developed a number of complications. The failure to diagnose ectopic pregnancy could be representative of medical malpractice. If your doctor negligently failed to diagnose your ectopic pregnancy, you might have grounds to pursue a failure to diagnose ectopic pregnancy lawsuit. Whether your missed diagnosis occurred at an emergency room (ER), urgent care, primary care, hospital, Kaiser Permanente (KP), or Planned Parenthood, you might have grounds to file a lawsuit.

Is my doctor liable for ectopic pregnancy diagnosis error? Yes, your doctor can be liable for ectopic pregnancy errors and mistakes. This means that you might have grounds to sue your doctor. If you are interested in learning more about suing for ectopic pregnancy, you should speak with an ectopic pregnancy malpractice lawyer at your earliest convenience.

Downtown L.A. Law Group is a personal injury law firm with many years of experience handling different types of injury claims, including but not limited to medical malpractice claims. Our medical malpractice lawyers in California can sue for ectopic pregnancy are ready to evaluate your claim and provide you with the guidance that you need to sue for medical negligence and ectopic pregnancy. If you would like to learn more about your right to pursue an ectopic pregnancy misdiagnosis lawsuit, contact our firm at your earliest convenience.

About Ectopic Pregnancies

What is an ectopic pregnancy? An ectopic pregnancy is defined as a pregnancy that occurs outside of the uterus. That is, a fertilized egg attaches and grows outside the uterus (it is important to note that ectopic pregnancy is also known as extrauterine pregnancy). In about 90% of all ectopic pregnancies, implantation occurs in the fallopian tube (this is a tubal pregnancy). The remaining 10% of all ectopic pregnancies occur in an ovary, the cervix, or in the abdomen.

There are a number of symptoms that women experience due to ectopic pregnancy; these symptoms could include the following:

Abdominal cramps (which are typically sharp)
Vaginal bleeding (only light bleeding)
Pelvic pain
Neck pain, shoulder pain, or rectal pain
Upset stomach
Vomiting
Dizziness and/or weakness

Can ectopic pregnancy be misdiagnosed? Yes, ectopic pregnancy can be misdiagnosed; the risk of misdiagnosis is directly relevant to the likelihood of the symptoms between normal pregnancies and ectopic pregnancies.

Unfortunately, women who have suffered from pelvic inflammatory disease, sexually transmitted diseases, pelvic scarring (due to surgeries), or previous ectopic pregnancy are at a higher risk of experiencing ectopic pregnancy. Other factors that could increase the risk of ectopic pregnancy include age (older than 35 years old), whether women smoke cigarettes, the use of fertility drugs or treatments, and tubal ligation/reversal procedures. Overall, only 1 to 2% of all pregnancies are ectopic; although this seems like a miniscule percentage, it consists of a significant number of women.

If ectopic pregnancies are not diagnosed and treated promptly, women could suffer dangerous complications. If a tubal pregnancy is left untreated, the fetus could continue to grow causing the fallopian tube to burst – causing severe pain and internal bleeding.

What is the treatment that follows a diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy? If the ectopic pregnancy is diagnosed in the early stages of pregnancy, the doctor should administer an injection with medication that will stop the cells from continuing to grow; the cells will be absorbed into the woman’s body and no additional treatment will be necessary.

If diagnosis is delayed and the ectopic pregnancy is further along, surgery might be the only option. Doctors will have to remove the fetus from the fallopian tube. If the fallopian tube was damaged because of the ectopic pregnancy, the fallopian tube will also be removed. If the fallopian tube burst and caused internal bleeding, the doctor will also have to address that during the bleeding. Unfortunately, ectopic pregnancies frequently go undiagnosed and emergency surgery is often required.

Ectopic Pregnancies can be Misdiagnosed

Doctors can make mistakes. As explained above, some of the symptoms of ectopic pregnancy can be representative of a normal pregnancy. Because ectopic pregnancies occur out of the uterus, normal ultrasounds will not identify the fetus; this means that ectopic pregnancies can often be confused for miscarriages. If you believe that your ectopic pregnancy has been misdiagnosed, you should seek another medical opinion. What doctor can diagnose ectopic pregnancy? A doctor specializing in ectopic pregnancy, such as an OBGYN, can make the diagnosis. However, even an OBGYN can be wrong. If your ectopic pregnancy was misdiagnosed or not treated properly, you might be eligible to pursue a legal claim.

questions medical malpractice ectopic pregnancy lawyer

Who Is Liable for the Misdiagnosis of Ectopic Pregnancy?

Before you can pursue a claim, you must establish liability for your misdiagnosis. If your doctor did not diagnose your ectopic pregnancy or improperly administers treatment, he or she might be liable of medical malpractice. This is because doctors owe their patients a duty of care; they must exercise the highest level of duty, skill, and care, when treating patients. Doctors can breach their duty of care and fail to diagnose or treat the ectopic pregnancy, for instance, resulting in complications and harm to the patient. What does this mean? A harmed patient could sue the doctor because the doctor failed to diagnose and misdiagnosed your ectopic pregnancy. Could I sue the hospital? You might also have grounds to sue the hospital. If you would like to learn more about medical malpractice and your right to sue, you should speak with an ectopic pregnancy misdiagnosis attorney in Los Angeles with experience in ectopic pregnancy and medical malpractice in California.

Can I Sue?

If you were the victim of a misdiagnosis of ectopic pregnancy, you might have many questions surrounding your situation and your right to sue. Consider some of the following questions and answers listed below:

Can I sue if my doctor failed to diagnose my ectopic pregnancy? Yes, you can sue your doctor if he failed to diagnose your ectopic pregnancy. You can sue if your doctor misdiagnosed your ectopic pregnancy specifically based on medical malpractice and negligence. With the assistance of ectopic pregnancy medical malpractice attorneys, you can begin your claim against the doctor.
Can I sue if I lost my fetus due to misdiagnosis of ectopic pregnancy? Yes, you can sue if you lost your fetus due to misdiagnosis. Unfortunately, ectopic pregnancies are rarely carried to term because of the significant risk that they represent to pregnant women.
Can I sue if I lost my pregnancy because the doctor did not discover my ectopic pregnancy? Yes, you can sue if you lost your pregnancy because the doctor failed to make a diagnosis. However, your right to sue will be based on the harm that you suffered associated with complications of the failure to diagnose ectopic pregnancy.
Can a car accident cause an ectopic pregnancy? Yes, a car accident can cause ectopic pregnancy. In the past, car accidents that resulted in blunt force trauma has been associated with ectopic pregnancy.
Can doctors be wrong about ectopic pregnancy? Yes, doctors can definitely be wrong about ectopic pregnancy. Although doctors are supposed to be experts of certain medical conditions, they can make mistakes and be wrong about diagnoses. Patients should not be afraid of seeking an additional medical opinions after receiving a preliminary diagnosis.

No matter where the misdiagnosis occurred – whether it was an ER, an urgent care center, a primary care clinic, a public or private hospital, any Kaiser Permanente facility, or a Planned Parenthood clinic, you could sue. You should not hesitate to take action against any medical facility whatsoever.

It is normal to have many questions after being harmed as a result of medical malpractice. If you have asked yourself any of the questions listed above or any other questions, you should seek legal assistance with a medical malpractice lawyer who specializes in ectopic pregnancy cases. If you are in need of legal assistance after your doctor failed to properly diagnose your ectopic pregnancy, contact the experts at our firm today.

What Should I Do?

As explained above ectopic pregnancy can be easily misdiagnosed. A misdiagnosis of ectopic pregnancy can be very dangerous and lead to harm that could have been completely avoided if the diagnosis had been made on time. If you were the victim of a misdiagnosis (resulting in harm), there are a number of things that you should do to ensure that you can take action against the liable doctor. What should you do? You should consider the recommended steps listed below:

Seek medical assistance with an experienced doctor as soon as possible (do not be afraid to seek additional medical opinions)
Take photos of any physical harm that you are exhibiting
Keep a record of absolutely all your symptoms
Collect all medical records associated with your ectopic pregnancy (both before and after your diagnosis)
Collect records associated with lost income relevant to your ectopic pregnancy and the misdiagnosis (including the complications caused by the misdiagnosis)
Discuss your right to sue with ectopic pregnancy medical malpractice attorneys as soon as possible

If you are interested in learning more about the steps that you should take if you are interested in pursuing legal action against the negligent doctor that misdiagnosed your condition, do not hesitate to seek legal assistance with an attorney with experience in ectopic pregnancy misdiagnosis cases. Our lawyers are ready to help you pursue your claim. If you are ready to speak with our attorneys who can file a lawsuit for ectopic pregnancy misdiagnosis and medical negligence, contact us today.

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Can I Recover Compensation?

Based on the details surrounding your claim, you could be eligible to recover compensation for the harm suffered as a result of the medical malpractice. What could you recover? How much could you be eligible to receive for the ectopic pregnancy and medical negligence that you suffered? Although every claim is different (resulting in a different recovery), claimants could be eligible to recover compensation for some of the following:

Medical expenses
Lost wages
Pain and suffering
Funeral and burial expenses
Loss of consortium
Punitive damages
Legal expenses

How much could you recover? The type and amount of compensation that you could receive will always be based on the specific details surrounding your claim. If you are interested in learning more about what you could receive if your claim is successful or about the average value of claims similar to yours, do not hesitate to seek legal assistance with the experts at our firm as soon as possible. Our lawyers are ready to aggressively fight for your right to recover the compensation that you are owed.

How Long Do You Have to Sue?

Without a doubt, you can sue the doctor and you can sue the hospital for the medical malpractice that you suffered. However, you must file your claim on time – more specifically, you must file your claim within the deadline allowed by the statute of limitations. In California, medical malpractice claims are subject to the following deadlines:

Three years from the date of the injury
One year from the date of discover

You should speak with a Los Angeles attorney for ectopic pregnancy misdiagnosis lawsuits as soon as possible to learn more about the total length of time that you have to pursue your claim. Our ectopic pregnancy medical malpractice attorneys will help you file your claim on time.

Contact Downtown L.A. Law Group Today

If your doctor did not diagnose your ectopic pregnancy correctly resulting in dangerous complications, you might have grounds to pursue an ectopic pregnancy diagnosis mistake lawsuit. If you are interested in learning more about your right to sue for the misdiagnosis of your ectopic pregnancy, you should seek legal assistance with the experts at our firm as soon as possible. At Downtown L.A. Law Group, our lawyers are ready to evaluate your claim and provide you with the guidance that you need to reach a successful claim outcome.

At our firm, we offer free legal services; our free legal services include free consultations and free second opinions. During our free legal services, our lawyers will answer all your questions and address all your concerns; our lawyers will provide you with all the information that you need to pursue your claim. If you are ready to discuss your claim with the Los Angeles attorneys who can file a lawsuit for ectopic pregnancy at our firm, contact us today.

Our firm offers a Zero-Fee guarantee, meaning that our clients will not be required to pay any upfront legal fees for our legal services. Additionally, our firm is based on a strict contingency structure, meaning that our clients will not be required to pay legal expenses until after reaching a successful claim outcome. If you do not win, you simply will not be required to pay anything.

Are you ready to discuss your claim with our Los Angeles lawyers who can sue for ectopic pregnancy wrong diagnosis? Whether your misdiagnosis occurs at St. Francis Medical Center, Cedars Sinai Hospital, USC Medical Center, UCLA Hospital, White Memoria Hospital, Kaiser Permanente, or Keck Hospital, you can trust our lawyers to provide you with the representation that you need to reach a successful claim outcome. We understand that even the thought of filing a lawsuit against one of these well-known medical institutions, whether it’s an emergency room, an urgent care clinic, primary care clinic, a hospital, a Planned Parenthood clinic, or any Kaiser Permanente facility. Our experts here are ready to provide you with the guidance that you need to take on these negligent medical entities and fight for your rights after your missed diagnosis of your ectopic pregnancy. Contact our firm today.

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