Patients expect doctors to diagnose and treat medical conditions accurately. When a physician gets a diagnosis wrong, the real condition may worsen while the patient receives incorrect treatment. This can lead to severe harm, long-term health problems, or even death.
How misdiagnosis happens
A doctor may fail to recognize symptoms, order the wrong tests, or misinterpret test results. In some cases, a doctor might dismiss a patient’s concerns too quickly. This is especially dangerous if the condition requires fast treatment, such as a heart attack, stroke, or aggressive cancer.
Doctors tend to misdiagnose certain conditions more often than others. Unfortunately, cancer, vascular events, and infections are the three types of illnesses with the most diagnostic errors. These mistakes can delay necessary treatments, making recovery much harder.
The impact of a misdiagnosis
A delayed or incorrect diagnosis can lead to a patient receiving the wrong medication, causing unnecessary side effects or allergic reactions. At other times, a medical team may perform surgery or other invasive treatments for a condition the person does not have, while the real illness continues to progress.
For example, if a doctor misdiagnoses cancer as a less serious condition, the disease may spread to other parts of the body. If a heart attack is mistaken for heartburn, a patient might not get the emergency care they need. Some patients never recover from these mistakes, while others have to live with lifelong complications.
A misdiagnosis can also cause emotional and financial stress. A patient may lose trust in the healthcare system and feel anxious about future medical visits. They may also face high medical bills from unnecessary treatments while dealing with lost wages due to illness.
If a doctor’s mistake leads to serious harm, a patient may need to explore options for restitution. Misdiagnosis can change a person’s life forever, so it is important to resolve an error as quickly as possible.