What are the most commonly misdiagnosed ailments?
Every year, thousands of Ohio residents receive incorrect diagnoses that leave them permanently disabled or result in death. Nationwide, more than 100,000 people suffer the same fate due to delays or inaccurate diagnoses. Misdiagnoses continue to be a significant issue.
Three health problems account for the most missed diagnoses
Recent research from Johns Hopkins University has discovered that infections, vascular events and cancers are the most commonly misdiagnosed ailments. These three categories represent about 75% of diagnostic delays, some of which can lead to serious consequences for patients. Researchers evaluated 11,592 diagnostic error cases between 2006 and 2015 in the national Comparative Benchmarking System database. Such errors can occur in all medical categories, but the most serious errors involved cancers at 37%, vascular events at 22%, and infections at 13%.
The most commonly misdiagnosed conditions include the following:
- Stroke
- Sepsis
- Lung cancer
- Coronary
- Severe blood clots
- Meningitis
- Encephalitis
- Breast, prostate and skin cancers
Errors occurred because of clinical judgment failures, including failing to order testing or having a narrow diagnostic focus, failing to properly evaluate symptoms or test results, and misinterpreting tests. Most occurred in ambulatory settings, but most cancer misdiagnoses occurred in outpatient clinics.
Misdiagnosis results in personal injury
Failure to diagnose often results in personal injury to patients. People often need to be their own advocates when they don’t feel they have the correct diagnosis. Nevertheless, if you have suffered because a medical provider failed to listen to your concerns, you may be a victim of medical misdiagnosis.
If you feel you are a medical misdiagnosis victim, you may have recourse against your provider. Gathering medical records and your review requests can help you prove your claim against your provider.