Waited years for an endometriosis diagnosis? You may have legal options
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You’re doubled over in pain, but your GP suggests it’s just “normal period pain.”
You visit emergency departments multiple times, only to be told to take some paracetamol and rest. Years pass, your symptoms worsen, and you begin to wonder if you’re going mad.
Sound familiar? If you’re one of the many Canberra women who’ve experienced delayed endometriosis diagnosis, you’re not alone. When medical professionals fail to diagnose endometriosis within a reasonable timeframe, you may have legal grounds for compensation.
The reality of endometriosis diagnosis
Endometriosis affects roughly one in nine Australian women of reproductive age, yet the average time to diagnosis remains around 6.5 years. The condition causes tissue similar to the uterine lining to grow outside the uterus, leading to debilitating pain, heavy bleeding, and fertility issues.
Several factors contribute to diagnostic delays. Many women normalise severe period pain, thinking it’s just something they must endure. The medical community lacks reliable non-invasive biomarkers for endometriosis, meaning diagnosis often requires invasive laparoscopic surgery. Additionally, general awareness of the condition remains poor among both patients and some healthcare providers.
Despite affecting so many women, endometriosis is frequently dismissed as “women’s troubles” or “normal period pain.” The longer endometriosis goes undiagnosed, the more severe the consequences can become. The condition is progressive, meaning tissue growth and scarring often worsen over time without proper treatment.
What constitutes delayed diagnosis?
Medical professionals have a duty to investigate appropriately when patients present with severe pelvic pain interfering with daily activities, pain unresponsive to standard treatments, painful intercourse, heavy bleeding, and gastrointestinal symptoms coinciding with cycles.
Delayed diagnosis significantly reduces quality of life through years of chronic pain, missed work and social activities, and the psychological toll of living with an unexplained condition. Perhaps most critically, delayed diagnosis can severely impact fertility, as endometriosis affects reproductive organs and can cause scarring that makes conception more difficult or impossible.
Other consequences include the formation of adhesions and scar tissue, potential organ damage if endometrial tissue grows on organs like the bowel or bladder, relationship strain from painful intercourse and mood changes, and financial costs from repeated medical visits and ineffective treatments.
Early diagnosis and treatment can prevent or minimise many of these complications, making delayed diagnosis particularly harmful to women’s long-term health and wellbeing.
When delayed diagnosis becomes medical malpractice
Understanding when diagnostic delays cross into medical malpractice territory is crucial for women considering their legal options.
Endometriosis medical malpractice occurs when a healthcare provider’s actions, or inactions, fall below the accepted standard of care. The legal test isn’t whether your doctor made a perfect diagnosis, but whether they acted reasonably based on your presenting symptoms and medical history.
What “standard of care” actually means
The standard of care refers to what a reasonably competent medical professional would do in similar circumstances. For endometriosis, this means appropriately investigating persistent pelvic pain, considering differential diagnoses including endometriosis when classic symptoms present, referring to specialists when first-line treatments fail, and ordering appropriate tests or imaging when clinically indicated.
When care falls below acceptable standards
Medical malpractice in endometriosis cases often involves dismissing severe symptoms without proper examination, repeatedly prescribing pain relief without investigating underlying causes, failing to refer to gynaecological specialists despite persistent symptoms, not considering endometriosis despite presenting with classic symptom patterns, and attributing debilitating pain to “normal periods” without clinical justification.
The key distinction is between a difficult diagnosis that takes time despite appropriate investigation, and negligent care where obvious symptoms are dismissed or ignored without proper clinical reasoning.
Building your legal case
- Document everything: Keep records of every medical appointment, noting dates, symptoms discussed, treatments prescribed, and dismissive comments. Collect referral letters, test results, and prescriptions.
- Demonstrate impact: Record work absences, missed social activities, relationship impacts, fertility issues, and mental health effects from being dismissed.
- Seek specialist confirmation: Ask your diagnosing specialist whether earlier investigation could have identified the condition sooner.
Endometriosis compensation can include medical expenses for treatments needed due to delayed diagnosis, lost income from work absences and reduced earning capacity, pain and suffering from years of unnecessary symptoms, and future care costs including fertility treatments if reproductive health was compromised.
Proving delayed diagnosis requires expert medical testimony establishing whether investigations should have occurred sooner. Cases must demonstrate that earlier diagnosis would have prevented worsening conditions or improved outcomes.
Unfortunately, some medical professionals still harbour outdated attitudes about women’s pain, making strong legal representation essential.
When to seek legal advice
Consider professional assessment when you experienced years of symptoms before diagnosis, multiple providers dismissed concerns without investigation, symptoms significantly impacted your life, or earlier diagnosis could have prevented worsening.
Kate Waterford from Maliganis Edwards Johnson specialises in medical negligence including endometriosis cases and birth trauma. She understands these unique challenges and can assess whether your experience constitutes unreasonable delayed diagnosis.
Your legal action could prevent other women experiencing similar dismissal, sending a clear message that women’s pain deserves proper medical attention. The dismissive treatment you received wasn’t acceptable medical practice. Your pain was real, your concerns were valid, and you deserved proper investigation from the beginning.
If you’ve experienced a delayed endometriosis diagnosis that impacted your health and wellbeing, MEJ’s medical negligence team can assess your situation and explain your legal options. Get in touch with them today.
