When patients are not believed: diagnostic delay and the limits of American tort law.

Discounting a patient’s experience can initiate diagnostic delay early in the care process. This commentary examines diagnostic delay through the concepts of epistemic injustice and US medical malpractice law, drawing on published evidence about communication, gender, and racial disparities. The author argues that dismissing credible patient testimony can contribute to delayed diagnosis and proposes recognition of epistemic injustices as legal injury within tort law.