Baltimore, MD Radiology Malpractice Lawyers

Attorneys Helping Patients Who Have Been Harmed by Radiology Errors in Baltimore, Maryland

Radiology is a field within medicine that deals primarily with the interpretation of diagnostic films such as X-rays, CT scans, MRIs, ultrasounds, sonograms, and other forms of imaging of the body. Radiologists review these images for signs of anything from broken bones and tumors to internal bleeding and paralysis.

Over the course of the last two decades, radiologists have been among the most sued healthcare providers when it comes to medical malpractice cases. In most of these cases, it is alleged that the radiologist breached their duty of care by misinterpreting or misreading a patient's scan, resulting in a missed, delayed, or false diagnosis. At Silverman Thompson, our lawyers understand how radiology errors can harm patients, and we can help injury victims recover compensation for injuries suffered in these cases.

Types of Radiology Errors

Some of the most common radiology malpractice cases involve missed cancerous tumors or missed injuries to the spinal cord, leading to paralysis. The failure to diagnose a cancerous tumor can often be fatal because the patient will often not get a repeat set of radiology scans for months or even years after the erroneously read set of scans. This passage of time can cause a patient's ultimate prognosis to take a turn for the worse. Of course, how aggressive the missed cancerous tumor is (i.e., how quickly it is growing or changing from a low-grade to a high-grade tumor) will play a significant role in how critical a misread film can be in a patient's prognosis.

At Silverman Thompson, our lawyers routinely handle cases in which radiologists fail to recognize and diagnose serious medical conditions, including but certainly not limited to tumors, fractures, lung nodules, and infected fluid collections. A 2016 study reported that radiology errors occurred in around 3-5% of cases, resulting in some harm to the patient. Because an early diagnosis can be crucial to a patient's treatment and their eventual survival, it is easy to see why radiology errors can prove to be so harmful to patients.

In addition to a radiologist misreading a film or study, errors can occur because of miscommunication between the radiologist and the physician who ordered the study. For example, radiologists are trained to immediately report potentially harmful results directly to the ordering physician. If the radiologist merely reports their findings in the patient's chart and does not let the physician know, a delay in treatment could occur, resulting in irreversible harm to the patient.

Finally, many radiology errors occur because the scans that are obtained are not "optimal" or readable by the radiologist, because the patient was moving during the test, or because a patient had some sort of bodily implant (metal) that obscured the area in question. Issues may arise when the radiologist goes ahead and gives an interpretation without regard to the poor film quality, and that interpretation turns out to be erroneous. The failure of the radiologist to indicate in their report that the scans were sub-optimal and alert the physician that another set of scans should be ordered may be considered negligence resulting in a missed or false diagnosis.

Contact Our Baltimore Radiology Malpractice Attorneys

Errors by radiologists can cause patients to suffer serious harm. In these cases, the skilled attorneys at Silverman Thompson can take steps to identify errors that occurred and obtain compensation that will address the injuries patients have suffered. Andrew G. Slutkin and Ethan S. Nochumowitz can provide the legal representation needed to succeed in these cases. Contact our Baltimore, MD radiology error lawyers at 410-385-2225 to set up a free consultation.