Of the 524 firms on our 92 city lists in the United States, Schochor, Staton, Goldberg, and Cardea, P.A. scores highest on malpractice focus, published results, client reviews and experience, followed by Hastings Law Firm and The Law Offices of Dr. Michael M. Wilson MD, JD & Associates. Each firm keeps its best score from the cities it serves; open a city for its full list.
Best Laboratory Errors Lawyers in the United States
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This spot goes to one firm for a year. It's shown first, above everyone below, and labeled Featured.
4.8181 Google reviewsRated 4.8 out of 5 on Google from 181 reviews
Best for: Birth injury and hospital negligence
In its published cases, Schochor, Staton, Goldberg, and Cardea, P.A. describes oxygen deprivation during delivery and Erb’s palsy; it also publishes verdicts involving deaths after hospital care.
We order firms by how much of their work is medical malpractice, the results they publish, what their clients say, their experience, their standing with the regulator and the recognition they have earned, all from public records and the firms' own sites. How lists are made
4.6102 Google reviewsRated 4.6 out of 5 on Google from 102 reviews
Best for: Misdiagnosis and surgical injury claims
Among Hastings Law Firm's published results are a $19,750,000 failure-to-diagnose settlement and a $10,700,000 negligent-prescribing jury verdict. Because it focuses on malpractice and publishes those results, it tops this list.
We order firms by how much of their work is medical malpractice, the results they publish, what their clients say, their experience, their standing with the regulator and the recognition they have earned, all from public records and the firms' own sites. How lists are made
5.0216 Google reviewsRated 5.0 out of 5 on Google from 216 reviews
Best for: Delayed diagnosis and anesthesia injuries
An alleged delayed diagnosis of HSV encephalitis is behind the $11.65 million result published by The Law Offices of Dr. Michael M. Wilson MD, JD & Associates. For negligent anesthesia care, it reports another result of $8 million.
We order firms by how much of their work is medical malpractice, the results they publish, what their clients say, their experience, their standing with the regulator and the recognition they have earned, all from public records and the firms' own sites. How lists are made
4.724 Google reviewsRated 4.7 out of 5 on Google from 24 reviews
Best for: Misdiagnosis and surgical injury claims
A $12 million misdiagnosis result stands out among the cases published by The Law Offices of Cardaro & Peek, LLC. For negligent surgery, it lists a $7.9 million result; for breast cancer misdiagnosis, it lists $7.1 million.
We order firms by how much of their work is medical malpractice, the results they publish, what their clients say, their experience, their standing with the regulator and the recognition they have earned, all from public records and the firms' own sites. How lists are made
4.7226 Google reviewsRated 4.7 out of 5 on Google from 226 reviews
Best for: Birth injury and delayed diagnosis
Among Wapner Newman Attorneys At Law's listed results are $8.4 million for brain injury after a delayed diagnosis and $7 million for birth trauma causing brain damage.
We order firms by how much of their work is medical malpractice, the results they publish, what their clients say, their experience, their standing with the regulator and the recognition they have earned, all from public records and the firms' own sites. How lists are made
Laboratory errors lawyers by state
The rules change from one state to the next, so the lawyers near you are the ones to call.
If a laboratory mistake caused measurable harm and the care fell below the applicable standard, you may have a medical malpractice claim. That alone isn't enough. Before you investigate a suspected specimen mix-up or a misread pathology slide, take care of your medical needs. If a result never reached your doctor, put your medical needs first. To connect the test to your treatment, gather the reports.
Before you ask for help, you don't have to know who's responsible. What went wrong may involve the laboratory's work, or how your doctor handled its result. How they communicated may be the problem instead. To understand the rules that apply, talk with a lawyer in your state.
What counts as a laboratory error?
When someone mishandles a patient's sample or interprets it incorrectly, that's a possible laboratory error. How someone handled the result can be a problem, too. While a specimen is material collected for testing, a pathology slide is a prepared sample someone examines to help identify disease. Inside the lab, a mistake may happen. But sometimes it's the treating doctor's response to the report that raises a concern.
Under Standards of Care's description, laboratory malpractice occurs when a clinical laboratory makes a mistake, or a doctor mishandles tests or results, causing patient harm. Without the patient's injury, that description doesn't fit. Even if you dispute a test result, that alone doesn't establish malpractice.
Specimen mix-ups: Did the sample or reported result belong to the patient it was supposed to?
Contaminated samples: Did something get into the sample and change what the test showed?
Misread pathology slides: When someone interpreted the sample, did they get it wrong?
Results that didn't reach the treating doctor: Did the patient's care suffer because someone failed to communicate the result?
These aren't the same problems. Rather than call the whole testing process a mistake, a review should identify where it failed and explain what went wrong there.
How an error can affect treatment
To review what happened, someone must connect the test to treatment. What changed in your treatment because your doctor relied on a wrong report? If an accurate report never reached the doctor, the concern is different: what kept it from arriving, and what happened while the doctor didn't have that information?
Don't lump those possibilities together. Whether someone mishandled the sample or misinterpreted it isn't clear from saying “The lab got it wrong” alone. Instead, getting the report delivered could be the problem.
How results were communicated has prompted laboratory litigation. A patient sued a laboratory that performed pathology tests on her tissue samples, A. L. Foulkes describes in a 2020 article titled “Can Clinical Genetics Laboratories be Sued for Medical …,”. According to her allegation, the laboratory negligently communicated results. Alleging that doesn't mean someone was found legally responsible. What happened to another patient isn't established by that allegation.
Publication year listed for A. L. Foulkes's article discussing laboratory liability and an allegation about communicating pathology results
If you have a medical question, the report alone can't resolve it. If someone has told you the sample or report may be wrong, ask your treating doctor to explain what the result means for your care.
When you ask if the report belongs to you, also check that your doctor received the version now in your records. Sometimes, two interpretations seem to disagree. Ask your doctor to explain any difference between them; needing something clarified doesn't mean you have proof of negligence.
To review malpractice, someone must ask whether care met the applicable standard. When care falls short, the review must show how that caused an injury and identify the harm that followed. To assess what someone did, the law uses the standard of care. Ask a lawyer in your state to explain the standard that applies to the laboratory or clinician you're questioning.
The standard of care
First, name the conduct you're questioning. Did someone test the wrong sample, or interpret the slide incorrectly? Maybe the treating doctor never got a needed report. Before assessing the care, a legal review needs a specific act or omission. If you only suspect that something went wrong, the lawyer still won't know which conduct needs examining.
When a result is unfavorable, that doesn't tell you whether care met the standard. Nor does disagreeing about the meaning of a test establish that. To show that care fell below the applicable standard, what would you need to provide the lawyer?
Causation
To establish causation, the alleged mistake must connect to injury. Just because an error happened before your condition worsened doesn't establish that. Whether the error caused the harm you attribute to it is what the review must examine.
When a result wasn't communicated, find out when the report became available, then ask when the doctor received it. After that, examine the care you received. To review a result you believe someone misinterpreted, the lawyer should connect that reading of the result to a treatment decision. While your account explains what concerns you, the records help show whether that concern holds up.
Measurable harm
An error alone isn't enough for a successful claim, according to the page titled “Medical Malpractice Laboratory Errors in Hospitals and …”. To meet that requirement, the patient must show the mistake caused measurable harm. However clear the error seems, it must still connect to that harm.
When negligence can be proven, medical costs and lost wages are possible compensation categories identified by “Liability for Lab Errors: Patient Rights and Legal Recourse”. Pain and suffering appears there, too. Having those categories doesn't promise you'll recover. To learn which losses may be recoverable in your circumstances, ask a lawyer in your state.
Gather records that explain the testing and treatment
First, get the actual report. If you have another version, keep it (not instead of the first). Rather than rely only on the latest report, the lawyer needs to know which information someone had when they made a decision about your care.
When requesting laboratory or pathology reports about the suspected mistake, include any versions that are already in your hands.
To show what happened afterward, ask for your treating doctor's notes about the result and subsequent care.
If messages discuss a missing report or possible mix-up, save them, as well as messages disputing an interpretation. Don't obscure the sender or date.
If you think the error caused those losses, keep your bills and details of missed work.
When someone tells you something, write it down with their name and the date. Don't mix your recollections with statements you can actually find in the chart.
Before your file is complete, you can still get in touch with a lawyer. When you bring your records, explain which ones are missing and ask what else would help the lawyer assess the mistake you suspect.
A practical path to a case review
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Clarify the medical concern
If you're questioning a result, ask your treating clinician what it means and whether your care changes now. You don't have to settle the legal question during that conversation; just write down what they say.
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Build a dated account
Follow what happened from sample collection through the reports and the treatment decisions. Note when you first heard about a possible error. Mark a date as uncertain if you aren't sure.
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Describe the injury
If you believe the mistake changed something, explain what changed. After connecting that concern to your care, point out the costs or other losses you want the lawyer to examine.
4
Contact a lawyer in your state
Before waiting for more records, find out which deadline you face. After giving the lawyer your reports, ask what else they need to assess whether care met the standard and whether the mistake caused you harm.
Who should the lawyer investigate?
Don't assume only the laboratory needs to be examined. In Standards of Care's description, a doctor's mistakes involving tests or results are covered alongside mistakes made in a clinical laboratory. To find out whose conduct affected your care, the lawyer should examine the records.
See Misdiagnosis & Delayed Diagnosis if you're mainly concerned that the report caused a diagnosis to be missed or delayed. If you suspect a failure in hospital care, Hospital & Nursing Negligence may also relate to what happened. Related concerns are explained on these pages. Who's responsible for what happened to you isn't something they can determine.
If the test happened during pregnancy, you may find a closer starting point in Prenatal Testing Errors. Choosing a legal category isn't something you have to do yourself. Which test concerns you is what to tell the lawyer.
Deadlines differ by state
Depending on the state, medical malpractice filing deadlines differ. A deadline you read about elsewhere isn't one to rely on. Along with visiting the state pages, speak with a lawyer in the state where you received the care.
When you speak with the lawyer, give the test date and explain when you learned of the suspected error. Also explain when the injury you attribute to it happened. Before the filing deadline, what must happen, and which dates matter under your state's statute of limitations? Ask the lawyer.
What to ask during a consultation
When you describe the mistake you suspect, explain the harm you think it caused. Perhaps all you know is that two reports differ. To ask for a review, say what you're unsure about; you don't have to turn it into an accusation.
If a claim concerns laboratory reports or pathology sample interpretations, does your firm handle it?
To distinguish an error from a disagreement about the result, which records would you need?
To show the suspected mistake caused my injury, what would you need?
While I'm requesting records, what should I do, and which state's deadline applies?
If you review or pursue a claim, what will the firm charge?
When the lawyer isn't sure about something, ask what makes it uncertain. Rather than predict a case's outcome based on the phrase “lab error,” the review should look at the particular report and the treatment decision involved.
What's on this page is general information, not legal advice. When a lawyer assesses your situation, your state's rules and the facts in your medical record guide that assessment.
If a laboratory error caused measurable harm and the care fell below the applicable standard, a claim may be possible. Neither point is established just because a result is wrong. To review the report and the treatment afterward, speak with a lawyer in your state. Rather than focus only on the mistake, explain the injury you believe it caused you.
Is a wrong laboratory result always malpractice?
No. To review the claim, someone must compare the conduct with the applicable standard of care and connect any failure to patient harm. By itself, disputing a result can't settle that question. Whether you suspect a specimen mix-up or an incorrect interpretation, the lawyer should examine that particular concern and look at what it changed in your care.
Can a failure to communicate test results lead to a claim?
When communication fails, laboratory litigation may follow. A patient alleged that a laboratory negligently communicated pathology results, as A. L. Foulkes describes in a 2020 article. Your case doesn't establish liability just because she alleged that. To assess your situation under your state's rules, the review would have to examine the particular communication and determine whether it caused harm.
What records should I bring to a laboratory-error lawyer?
If you have other versions of the laboratory or pathology report, bring those too. Along with messages about the suspected mistake, include your treating doctor's notes if you have them. To explain what worries you, a dated account of the test and subsequent care can help. If bills or missed-work information relate to the alleged injury, keep them. Before your file is complete, contact the lawyer and ask which additional records they need to see.
How long do I have to file a laboratory malpractice lawsuit?
Because deadlines vary by state, this page doesn't give a single filing period. When you visit the state pages, also consult a lawyer in the state where you received care. Tell the lawyer when you had the test, along with when you learned of the suspected error. Ask how your state's statute of limitations applies before you decide to wait for more records.
What compensation may be available after a harmful lab error?
When negligence can be proven, medical costs and lost wages are possible compensation categories identified by “Liability for Lab Errors: Patient Rights and Legal Recourse”. Among the categories it names is pain and suffering. Whether any category applies depends on your circumstances and state law. When you ask a lawyer how those losses could be evaluated, share the details you've kept about losses you attribute to the mistake. There's no promise of recovery.
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