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Mount Sinai Hospital Misdiagnosis and Diagnostic Failures

Excerpt: Mount Sinai Hospital is one of New York's most renowned medical centers — but diagnostic errors there can be devastating. This guide explains your legal rights if you or a loved one was misdiagnosed at Mount Sinai.

Table of Contents

1. About Mount Sinai Hospital
2. Common Diagnostic Errors at Mount Sinai
3. Failure to Diagnose Cancer at Mount Sinai
4. Failure to Diagnose Heart Attack and Stroke
5. Radiology and Pathology Errors
6. Emergency Room Diagnostic Failures
7. Mid-Level Provider and Teaching Hospital Errors
8. Who Can Be Held Liable?
9. Statute of Limitations and Legal Deadlines
10. Preserving Evidence at Mount Sinai
11. Frequently Asked Questions

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About Mount Sinai Hospital

Mount Sinai Hospital, part of the Mount Sinai Health System, is one of New York City's oldest and most prestigious medical centers. Located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, it is the flagship hospital of a system that includes multiple hospitals across the city:

• Mount Sinai Hospital — Upper East Side, Manhattan (flagship)
• Mount Sinai Morningside — Morningside Heights
• Mount Sinai West — Midtown Manhattan
• Mount Sinai Beth Israel — East Village
• Mount Sinai Brooklyn — Midwood
• Mount Sinai Queens — Astoria

As a major teaching hospital affiliated with the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, it involves residents and fellows in patient care at every level. As a tertiary care center, it handles some of the most complex cases in the region. With high patient volume, a multi-campus system, and complex cases, diagnostic errors at Mount Sinai can involve systemic issues of supervision, communication, and quality assurance.

[Link to: /medical-malpractice/misdiagnosis]

Common Diagnostic Errors at Mount Sinai

1. Failure to Diagnose Cancer

Mount Sinai's Tisch Cancer Center is a major oncology program. However, cancer misdiagnosis can occur when:

• Mammograms are misread — Radiologists miss breast cancer
• CT scans are misinterpreted — Lung, liver, pancreatic, or kidney tumors are missed
• Colonoscopies are incomplete — Polyps or tumors are missed or not biopsied
• Pathology is misread — Biopsy results are misinterpreted, leading to delayed cancer diagnosis
• Abnormal results are not followed up — Patients with abnormal screening results are lost to follow-up
• Referrals are delayed — Primary care providers delay referring patients to specialists

The consequences of a delayed cancer diagnosis can be catastrophic — allowing cancer to progress from a treatable early stage to an advanced, incurable stage.

[Link to: /medical-malpractice/cancer-misdiagnosis]

2. Failure to Diagnose Heart Attack

Despite being a major cardiac center, emergency room errors at Mount Sinai can lead to missed heart attack diagnoses — particularly in women, who may present with atypical symptoms.

The standard of care requires:

• ECG within 10 minutes of arrival
• Cardiac biomarkers (troponin) — And repeat if initially negative
• Appropriate observation — For patients with intermediate risk
• Do not attribute chest pain to anxiety — Until cardiac causes have been ruled out

[Link to: /blog/misdiagnosis-heart-attack-women-ny-legal-rights]

3. Failure to Diagnose Stroke

Mount Sinai is a Comprehensive Stroke Center. Failure to recognize stroke symptoms, failure to obtain a prompt CT scan, or failure to administer tPA within the treatment window may be negligence.

The standard of care for suspected stroke includes rapid triage, NIH Stroke Scale assessment, non-contrast CT scan, CT angiography, and tPA administration within 4.5 hours where indicated.

4. Failure to Diagnose Sepsis

Sepsis is a time-critical emergency. Failure to recognize the signs of sepsis, failure to obtain blood cultures and lactate, or delay in starting antibiotics within 1 hour may be negligence.

The Surviving Sepsis Campaign Hour-1 Bundle requires measuring lactate, obtaining blood cultures, administering broad-spectrum antibiotics, beginning fluid resuscitation, and applying vasopressors — all within 1 hour of recognition.

[Link to: /blog/post-surgical-sepsis-failure-to-monitor-malpractice]

5. Failure to Diagnose Pulmonary Embolism

Pulmonary embolism is frequently misdiagnosed as pneumonia, asthma, anxiety, or musculoskeletal chest pain. The standard of care requires the Wells Score for risk stratification, D-dimer testing, and CT pulmonary angiography when indicated.

[Link to: /blog/misdiagnosis-dvt-pulmonary-embolism-ny]

6. Failure to Diagnose Aortic Dissection

Aortic dissection — a tear in the aortic wall — is a surgical emergency that is frequently misdiagnosed as a heart attack. The standard of care for suspected dissection includes a CT angiogram of the chest. Failure to consider dissection in a patient with severe, tearing chest pain may be fatal.

[Link to: /medical-malpractice/misdiagnosis/aortic-aneurysm]

Radiology and Pathology Errors at Mount Sinai

Radiology Errors

Mount Sinai's radiology department handles a high volume of imaging studies. Common errors include:

• Misread mammograms — Missing breast cancer on screening mammography
• Misread CT scans — Missing tumors, hemorrhage, or other abnormalities
• Misread MRIs — Missing brain or spinal cord abnormalities
• Failure to compare — Not comparing current imaging with prior studies
• Communication failures — Critical findings not communicated to the treating physician

[Link to: /medical-malpractice/radiology-errors]

Pathology Errors

Mount Sinai's pathology department interprets biopsies, cytology, and surgical specimens. Errors include:

• False negative — Missing cancer on a biopsy (the most dangerous error)
• False positive — Diagnosing cancer when it is not present
• Misclassification — Grading or staging cancer incorrectly
• Communication failures — Critical pathology results not communicated promptly

[Link to: /medical-malpractice/pathology-errors]

Emergency Room Diagnostic Failures

Mount Sinai's emergency departments are among the busiest in New York City. Common ER diagnostic failures include:

• Premature discharge — Sending a patient home before the diagnosis is established
• Failure to order tests — Not ordering ECG, troponin, CT, or other indicated tests
• Failure to consult specialists — Not consulting surgery, cardiology, neurology, or other specialists
• Anchoring bias — Latching onto the first diagnosis and failing to consider alternatives
• Triage errors — Assigning a low triage priority to a patient with a serious condition

[Link to: /blog/failure-to-order-diagnostic-tests-malpractice-ny]

Mid-Level Provider and Teaching Hospital Errors

Mid-Level Provider Errors

As a large healthcare system, Mount Sinai employs physician assistants (PAs) and nurse practitioners (NPs) throughout its emergency rooms, clinics, and hospital wards. Diagnostic errors by mid-level providers — and failure to consult supervising physicians — are a growing source of malpractice claims.

[Link to: /blog/diagnostic-errors-physician-assistants-nurse-practitioners]

Teaching Hospital Liability

As a teaching hospital affiliated with the Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai has residents and fellows involved in patient care. Under 10 NYCRR § 405.4, attending physicians must provide appropriate supervision.

Key requirements:

• Attending availability — The attending must be immediately available
• Participation in critical portions — The attending must participate in key diagnostic and treatment decisions
• Supervision of residents — The attending is responsible for the resident's actions

[Link to: /medical-malpractice/hospital-negligence]

Who Can Be Held Liable?

In a diagnostic error case at Mount Sinai, potential defendants include:

• The attending physician — For diagnostic errors, failure to order tests, or failure to consult specialists
• The resident or fellow — If they failed to recognize the condition
• The radiologist — For misinterpreting imaging studies
• The pathologist — For misinterpreting biopsy results
• The PA or NP — For diagnostic errors and failure to escalate
• Mount Sinai Health System — For staffing, credentialing, protocol, and supervision failures

Statute of Limitations and Legal Deadlines

Mount Sinai Hospital is a private, nonprofit hospital:

• No notice of claim required — Unlike NYC Health + Hospitals facilities
• CPLR 214-a — 2.5 years from the date of the malpractice
• Continuous treatment doctrine — May extend the deadline if you continued receiving treatment from the same provider for the same condition

Preserving Evidence at Mount Sinai

Critical evidence includes:

1. Emergency room or clinic records — Documenting the evaluation and diagnostic workup
2. Imaging studies and radiology reports — What was ordered, what was reported
3. Pathology reports — For biopsy and cytology results
4. Lab results — Blood tests and cultures
5. EMR audit trail — Electronic log of who accessed or modified records (Mount Sinai uses Epic)
6. Referral and consult notes — Whether specialists were consulted

Your attorney should send a formal preservation letter to Mount Sinai immediately.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I sue Mount Sinai for misdiagnosis?

Yes. If a physician, radiologist, pathologist, or mid-level provider at Mount Sinai failed to diagnose your condition — and this caused you harm — you may have a malpractice claim against both the individual provider and the hospital.

How long do I have to sue Mount Sinai?

Under CPLR 214-a, the deadline is generally 2.5 years from the date of the malpractice. The continuous treatment doctrine may extend this if you continued receiving treatment from the same provider.

Is Mount Sinai a public or private hospital?

Mount Sinai Hospital is a private, nonprofit hospital. No notice of claim is required, and the standard 2.5-year statute of limitations applies.

What if a radiologist at Mount Sinai misread my imaging?

You may have a claim against the radiologist and against the hospital. Radiology errors — including misread mammograms, CT scans, and MRIs — are a common source of malpractice claims.

What evidence do I need for a diagnostic error case at Mount Sinai?

Medical records, imaging studies and radiology reports, pathology reports, lab results, and the EMR audit trail are the most critical pieces of evidence. Your attorney should send a preservation letter immediately.

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If you or a loved one has been affected by a diagnostic error at Mount Sinai Hospital, contact MDLaw Firm at 347-524-5777 for a free consultation.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. No attorney-client relationship is created by reading this article or contacting MDLaw Firm.