Chronic pain, medical negligence and your legal rights

By Mirna Faraj, Solicitor

Living with chronic pain can be exhausting. Many people spend years seeking answers while coping with symptoms that affect their work, relationships, mental wellbeing and quality of life.

Conditions such as endometriosis, chronic pelvic pain, fibromyalgia, osteoarthritis and other long-term pain disorders can be difficult to diagnose and treat. In some cases, patients experience significant delays before receiving appropriate investigations, referrals or treatment. Recent attention on the experiences of women living with pain, including through the Victorian Inquiry into Women’s Pain, has highlighted the challenges many patients face in obtaining timely diagnosis and care. 

While not every delayed diagnosis amounts to medical negligence, there are circumstances where failures in medical care can give rise to a compensation claim.

When can a chronic pain matter become a medical negligence claim? 

Many people contact our office because they feel their symptoms were dismissed, minimised or not properly investigated. Although these experiences can be deeply frustrating, a successful medical negligence claim requires more than dissatisfaction with medical care.

To establish a claim, it is generally necessary to show:

• A healthcare provider failed to exercise reasonable care in the diagnosis, investigation or treatment of a condition; and
• That failure caused a materially worse outcome than would otherwise have occurred.

In other words, it is not enough to show that a diagnosis was delayed. It must also be shown that the delay resulted in additional injury, unnecessary pain, disease progression, reduced treatment options, or some other significant harm that could likely have been avoided with appropriate care.

Common issues we see in chronic pain cases 

Every case is different, but examples of concerns that may warrant further investigation include:

• Repeated presentations with ongoing symptoms that were not adequately investigated
• Failures to refer a patient to an appropriate specialist
• Delays in recognising warning signs or deteriorating symptoms
• Misdiagnosis of a chronic pain condition

In chronic pain matters, medical records and expert medical evidence are often critical in determining whether the standard of care was met and whether any delay or error made a meaningful difference to the patient’s outcome.

The importance of causation in chronic pain claims

One of the most important questions in any medical negligence claim is: what difference would earlier diagnosis or treatment have made?

Some chronic pain conditions can be difficult to treat even when diagnosed promptly. For that reason, establishing negligence alone is not enough. It is usually necessary to obtain expert evidence addressing whether earlier intervention would likely have:

• Reduced pain or suffering
• Prevented deterioration of the condition
• Improved treatment outcomes
• Avoided further complications

This issue of causation is often the deciding factor in whether a claim is viable.

How we assess potential medical negligence claims 

At Maliganis Edwards Johnson, we understand that many people living with chronic pain have spent years searching for answers. By the time they seek legal advice, they are often dealing with ongoing symptoms, financial pressures and uncertainty about whether anything could have been done differently.

Our role is to carefully assess the circumstances of each case. We review the available medical records, consider the timeline of events and evaluate whether there is evidence to support both negligence and causation.

Not every delayed diagnosis will result in a viable claim. However, where medical care has fallen below an acceptable standard and that failure has caused a patient to suffer a worse outcome, compensation may be available.

Seek legal advice for your chronic pain negligence claim

If you believe your chronic pain condition,  whether endometriosis, fibromyalgia, chronic pelvic pain, osteoarthritis or another long-term condition, was not properly investigated, diagnosed or treated, obtaining legal advice can help you understand your options.

An early assessment can often identify whether there are reasonable grounds to investigate a claim further and whether expert medical evidence is likely to support the case.

Maliganis Edwards Johnson offers confidential initial consultations to discuss your circumstances and provide guidance on whether a medical negligence claim may be available.

 Contact our team today for a free confidential consultation to find out where you stand.