New Orleans
Sometimes the most dangerous mistake isn’t the wrong diagnosis, it’s no diagnosis at all.
When a healthcare provider misses a condition that a competent provider should have caught, the delay can turn a treatable illness into a life-threatening one.
The Voorhies Law Firm represents patients across New Orleans harmed by a failure to diagnose.
Failure to diagnose occurs when a healthcare provider does not identify a condition that a reasonably competent provider, given the same symptoms and test results, should have caught.
This often involves:
The damage in these cases often comes from the delay itself: a condition that would have been highly treatable at an earlier stage becomes far more serious, or untreatable, by the time it’s finally caught.
Failure to diagnose claims in Louisiana fall under the state’s Medical Malpractice Act framework.
Louisiana requires most claims against a qualified provider to go before a Medical Review Panel, one attorney and three healthcare providers, before a lawsuit can be filed. In a failure-to-diagnose case, the panel weighs whether a reasonably competent provider, given your symptoms and test results, should have caught what was missed.
Filing suit before the panel finishes its work typically gets a case dismissed as premature.
Total damages against a qualified healthcare provider are capped at $500,000 in Louisiana, not including future medical care and related benefits, which are addressed separately. No individual provider is personally liable for more than $100,000 of that total, with the Louisiana Patient’s Compensation Fund covering the rest.
Confirming which providers actually qualify under the Act is an important early step in these cases.
Rather than Louisiana’s general injury deadline, failure-to-diagnose claims follow a stricter rule: generally one year from the missed diagnosis or one year from when it’s discovered, but never more than three years from the original act, no matter when the condition is finally caught.
Because these cases often involve a real gap between the missed diagnosis and its discovery, understanding exactly where you stand on that timeline matters early on.
STEP 1
Free consultation.
Tell us about your symptoms and what testing, if any, was done. We’ll give you an honest, no-cost assessment.
STEP 2
Records collection.
We gather your full treatment history, including every visit where the missed condition should have surfaced.
STEP 3
Expert review.
We bring in medical experts to evaluate what a competent provider should have caught, and when.
STEP 4
Medical Review Panel.
Louisiana requires this review before a lawsuit can be filed, so we prepare your case for the panel’s evaluation.
STEP 5
Damage calculation.
We account for how the delay affected your treatment, prognosis, and daily life.
STEP 6
Filing suit, if needed.
If the panel process falls short of a fair resolution, we file suit before the applicable deadline passes.
STEP 7
Resolution.
You receive your compensation, whether through settlement or verdict, with the Patient’s Compensation Fund addressing costs beyond each provider’s individual cap.
We represent patients in failure to diagnose cases involving:
With many of the failure to diagnose cases that we see, a person whose window for effective treatment has closed because a provider missed what should have been caught.
We’re here to hold that provider accountable.
Across all of our practice areas, The Voorhies Law Firm has recovered over $100 million for our clients. We hold hospitals to the same standard whether the mistake was an action or an oversight.
Past results are not a guarantee of future success, and your case’s outcome depends on its own facts, including Louisiana’s damages cap.
Founding attorney Richard P. Voorhies III built this firm on the idea that clients deserve a legal team that digs in, not one that settles for the easy answer.
For fourteen years, The Voorhies Law Firm has gone up against hospitals and their insurers on behalf of patients who were failed by their own care team.
We’re recognized by Super Lawyers, the Million Dollar and Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forums, and other legal organizations, and we work entirely on contingency, so you won’t owe us a cent unless we recover for you.
This typically requires a qualified medical expert to review your symptoms, test results, and treatment timeline, and determine whether a reasonably competent provider would have diagnosed the condition sooner.
Possibly, if the delay caused additional harm, more invasive treatment, a worse prognosis, or extended suffering, even if the condition is now being addressed. An attorney can evaluate whether the delay itself caused compensable harm.
Yes, in most cases, when a qualified healthcare provider is involved. This step generally has to happen before a lawsuit can be filed.
Usually one year from the missed diagnosis or from when it’s discovered, capped at three years from the original act under La. R.S. 9:5628, regardless of discovery date.
Nothing upfront. We handle failure to diagnose cases on a contingency fee basis, so we only get paid if we recover compensation for you.
