Misdiagnosis Settlement Calculator, from your losses, your share of fault and your state's rules.

A diagnosis can go wrong in three ways: it can be missed, so a condition goes untreated; it can be late, so treatment starts after it would have; or it can be wrong, so you are treated for something you do not have while what you do have goes on. Each is a claim about the same thing, the care the provider gave.

Each state's law sets what has to be shown and how. The questions a claim turns on are the same ones in every telling: what the provider was told and what the results said; what a careful provider in the same field would have done with that information, such as ordering a test, reading a result again, or making a referral; and whether doing it would have changed what happened to you.

The last question is the one that sets a misdiagnosis claim apart. The provider did not cause the illness. A claim is about what the delay or error added: a cancer found at a later stage, an infection that spread, a heart condition that went untreated, a surgery that would not have been needed. A lawyer can say how your state measures that harm, including whether it recognizes a claim for a lost chance of a better outcome.

A missed diagnosis is not by itself proof of malpractice. An illness can present in a way a careful provider would not catch, and a test can miss what is there. What the provider had in front of them, and what they did with it, is what a claim turns on.

Enter the medical costs and lost pay the error added, not every cost of the illness. If a condition caught at the first visit would have needed treatment anyway, that treatment is not the harm; the extra treatment, the extra time off work, and the costs of a worse outcome are.

The pain-and-suffering factor runs from 1.0x to 5.0x, set by the severity, the length of treatment, the injury type and fault you choose. It prices the harm you describe, and adds nothing for the fact that the harm came from a diagnosis.

Where we publish a malpractice cap on non-economic damages for your state, the calculator applies it, and we publish one for seventeen jurisdictions. Where we hold a cap and do not publish its figure, or hold none, the panel says which, with the reason.

Then the calculator takes out a contingency fee, case costs and medical liens at fixed rates, which are stand-ins and not what your lawyer will charge. Malpractice claims can carry costs an ordinary injury claim does not, such as an expert's review, and this page does not price them.

The rule's right of access: “an individual has a right of access to inspect and obtain a copy of protected health information about the individual in a designated record set” (45 C.F.R. § 164.524(a)(1)).

How to ask: “The covered entity may require individuals to make requests for access in writing, provided that it informs individuals of such a requirement.” (45 C.F.R. § 164.524(b)(1)) Put the request in writing anyway, name the provider and the dates of the visits, and keep a copy.

How fast: “the covered entity must act on a request for access no later than 30 days after receipt of the request” (45 C.F.R. § 164.524(b)(2)(i)). If it cannot, “the covered entity may extend the time for such actions by no more than 30 days” (45 C.F.R. § 164.524(b)(2)(ii)), and only on the conditions the rule sets.

In what form: “if the individual requests an electronic copy of such information, the covered entity must provide the individual with access to the protected health information in the electronic form and format requested by the individual” (45 C.F.R. § 164.524(c)(2)(ii)).

What it can cost: “the covered entity may impose a reasonable, cost-based fee” (45 C.F.R. § 164.524(c)(4)), and the rule lists what that fee can include.

One exception matters here. Among what the right does not reach: “Information compiled in reasonable anticipation of, or for use in, a civil, criminal, or administrative action or proceeding.” (45 C.F.R. § 164.524(a)(1)(ii)) This page does not say what falls within it. The records of your care are what to ask for: the chart notes, the test results, the imaging reports and the images, the pathology reports, and any referral letters, for each visit in question.

These are duties of a provider the rule covers, which it calls a covered entity. If the patient has died, ask a lawyer for the family or the estate who can request the records.

Before any lawsuit: “An action shall not be instituted upon a claim against the United States for money damages for injury or loss of property or personal injury or death caused by the negligent or wrongful act or omission of any employee of the Government while acting within the scope of his office or employment, unless the claimant shall have first presented the claim to the appropriate Federal agency and his claim shall have been finally denied by the agency in writing and sent by certified or registered mail.” (28 U.S.C. § 2675(a))

The period: “A tort claim against the United States shall be forever barred unless it is presented in writing to the appropriate Federal agency within two years after such claim accrues or unless action is begun within six months after the date of mailing, by certified or registered mail, of notice of final denial of the claim by the agency to which it was presented.” (28 U.S.C. § 2401(b))

If the agency does not decide: “The failure of an agency to make final disposition of a claim within six months after it is filed shall, at the option of the claimant any time thereafter, be deemed a final denial of the claim for purposes of this section.” (28 U.S.C. § 2675(a))

And the amount: “Action under this section shall not be instituted for any sum in excess of the amount of the claim presented to the federal agency, except where the increased amount is based upon newly discovered evidence not reasonably discoverable at the time of presenting the claim to the federal agency, or upon allegation and proof of intervening facts, relating to the amount of the claim.” (28 U.S.C. § 2675(b)) So the amount stated in the claim to the agency matters, and it is worth working out with a lawyer before the claim goes in.

That period is set by the federal statute, not by the state malpractice period the panel shows, and the two can differ. Whether a provider counts as a federal employee for this purpose is a question this page does not decide: ask the facility in writing who employed the provider, and take the answer to a lawyer early, because the claim to the agency comes first.

With a missed diagnosis, the harm can surface months or years after the visit where it was missed, and when the clock starts is the question that decides whether a claim is still open. Each state's law answers it, and the answer can turn on the date of the care, the date the harm was discovered, or the date it should have been.

The calculator counts from the date you enter and applies no later start. Enter the date of the visit, test or reading where the diagnosis was missed: counting from the earliest date gives the earliest deadline, which is the safe one to plan around.

A provision can also set an outer limit counted from the care itself, so a later start does not last indefinitely, and a state's law can require steps before a malpractice lawsuit is filed. This page applies none of them. Our data holds a note on the malpractice period for five jurisdictions, and the panel prints each one.

If the patient died, a wrongful-death claim brought for the family runs on its own period, which the panel shows for your state in the words the wrongful-death calculator on this site uses.

Write down each visit: the date, the provider, what you told them, what they examined, what tests they ordered or did not, and what they said the problem was. Write down when the symptoms started and how they changed, and when and how the right diagnosis was finally made.

Request your records from every provider involved, in writing, and keep the requests. Keep appointment reminders, portal messages, referral letters, prescriptions, and every bill and statement of benefits. They are what the calculator's economic damages are built from.

Keep a record of time off work and of the pay it cost you, and of the care the error added: extra treatment, travel to it, and help at home.

The questions on this page are answered by your state's law and your facts: when the clock started, whether a step is required before filing, whether a cap applies, whether the provider was a federal employee, and what difference the error made. A lawyer who handles malpractice claims in your state can answer them. Bring your written record, the records you have requested, the dates of each visit, and the periods the panel shows.