The Most Misdiagnosed Medical Conditions
Nothing less than 100% accuracy: That’s what you expect from your doctor’s diagnosis.
But is 100% accuracy realistic? Look at these statistics reported in The Washington Post:
- Patients with serious conditions are misdiagnosed more than 20% of the time.
- An incorrect or late diagnosis is not uncommon. Chances are you’ll receive a misdiagnosis at least once in your life.
- 5% of adults who seek outpatient care – approximately 12 million people – are misdiagnosed every year.
These statistics are frightening and alarming. Your risk of a misdiagnosis is much greater than you ever could have imagined.
What Is A Misdiagnosis?
A misdiagnosis is a diagnosis that is overlooked, mistaken, or delayed, with detection coming from a subsequent test or finding. These medical errors and omissions are often very serious and can cause patients to suffer medical problems that are easily preventable.
Worse still, a medical error or misdiagnosis can lead to a patient’s death. According to a Johns Hopkins study, medical errors account for more than 250,000 deaths annually. That makes medical errors, which includes diagnostic errors, the third-leading killer of Americans.
20 Diseases That Your Doctor Might Misdiagnose
Statistics show that when you go to the doctor, you’re risking a misdiagnosis. A misdiagnosis can happen if your doctor confuses your symptoms or omits a critical test. And if you’re suffering from one of these 20 diseases, the odds go up that your doctor will commit a harmful mistake:
- Celiac disease
- Fibromyalgia
- Irritable bowel syndrome
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Multiple sclerosis
- Lyme disease
- Lupus
- Polycystic ovary syndrome
- Appendicitis
- Endometriosis
- Migraines
- Cluster headaches
- Hypothyroidism
- Diabetes
- Inflammatory bowel disease
- ADHD (in children)
- Urinary tract infection (in older adults)
- Delirium (in older adults)
- Essential tremor (in older adults)
- Dehydration (in older adults)
If you’ve been injured because of a doctor’s misdiagnosis, call us at 412-471-4300, or email us. Berger Lagnese & Paul, LLC has an experienced team of lawyers and doctors that specializes in medical malpractice. We help residents in Pittsburgh, Greensburg, Beaver, Erie, Uniontown, Washington and throughout Western Pennsylvania.