Failure to diagnose

Buttscratcha

I know you can sue for failure to diagnose for physical injuries if it can be proved that failure to diagnose caused said injury.

Can you do the same for mental health injuries? Is it harder to prove?

Peregrinus

To recover for failure to diagnose an injury, it's not enough to prove that the failure to diagnose resulting loss or injury that wouldn't otherwise have occurred; you also have to prove that the failure to diagnose was negligent; that a competent medical practitioner would have diagnosed the injury.

The same rules apply to physical and mental conditions. So, to recover damages for failure to diagnose your mental health condition in a timely fashion, you have to prove:

(a) that the failure was negligent; that a competent medical practitioner would have diagnosed your mental health condition at the time; and

(b) that, because of the delay in diagnosis, you suffered additional loss or injury - for example, your condition got worse because it continued to be untreated.