Is a missed diagnosis of a birth defect considered a malpractice issue?

In your, as in all cases of missed diagnosis, the issues are these: First, was the failure to arrive at the correct diagnosis negligent? In and of itself, an incorrect or "missed" diagnosis does not prove that the subject physician is responsible for malpractice. Not all medical conditions can be immediately appropriately diagnosed, and there may well be reasons that a correct diagnosis was not reached at the point of time in question. Establishing the negligence of a physician requires an expert/ physician in the same feels as the doctor who allegedly malpracticed. Second, even ASSUMING that the doctor was negligent, did the malpractice result in significant harm? In other words, in the case of your child, if we assume that the pediatrician should have diagnosed the cleft palate, is there some harm that has resulted to your child from the delay in treating it. This is a question you should ask the cleft palate clinic.