You know that feeling you get when you finally know what’s wrong with you?
That sense of relief and clarity that comes from an accurate diagnosis?
It’s the first step towards regaining control of your health.
But what if you received the wrong diagnosis?
Treatment delays. Mental anguish. Financial burden. Ruined days, weeks, months of your life spent trying to figure out why nothing was getting better.
If there’s one aspect of whole-person wellness that most people would agree on, it’s this: nothing can happen until you know what condition or illness you’re actually fighting.
Here are five things you should know about accurate diagnoses and whole-person wellness:
- Why Accurate Diagnosis Is Important to Whole-Person Wellness
- Millions of Americans Will Be Affected by Diagnostic Errors This Year
- Misdiagnosis Ruins Every Aspect of a Person’s Life
- The Conditions Most Likely to Be Misdiagnosed
- What To Do If You Think Your Diagnosis Is Wrong
- Misdiagnosis Malpractice Claims: When They’re Needed
Why Accurate Diagnosis Is Important to Whole-Person Wellness
Sure, whole-person wellness encompasses a lot.
It includes physical health. Mental wellbeing. Emotional stability. Functional ability.
But optimal health in all those areas is pointless without a correct and timely diagnosis.
Once the condition is identified, treatment research can begin, plans of action can be developed, and recovery can happen with confidence. No matter the condition, right?
Wrong.
Treating the wrong illness, relying on incorrect prognoses — these things happen more than most people think. They can send patients down weeks or months of medical treatments that don’t address the underlying problem.
It also leads to inevitable delays in care. The longer a condition goes untreated, the worse it will get. Like clockwork.
Simply put: there is no whole-person wellness without an accurate starting point.
Millions of Americans Will Be Affected by Diagnostic Errors This Year
Let’s put some data around how big of a problem misdiagnosis actually is.
Every year, an estimated 795,000 Americans will die or sustain permanent disabilities as a direct result of diagnostic errors. That breaks down to 371,000 deaths and 424,000 injuries, based on findings from a study published in BMJ Quality & Safety.
Missed. Delayed. Wrong.
Diagnoses are destroying lives, and they’re doing it at an alarming rate.
When a doctor harms a patient as a result of negligence, it’s known as medical malpractice. Patients affected by misdiagnosis can file for malpractice if their provider was truly at fault. A consultation with trusted medical misdiagnosis lawyers can help determine whether a provider was liable.
Incidentally, diagnostic errors are also estimated to cost American taxpayers over $100 BILLION dollars every year.
Misdiagnosis Ruins Every Aspect of a Person’s Life
You know those viral stories about somebody who went to multiple doctors only to discover they had cancer in the final stages?
Yeah, that can (and does) happen.
A misdiagnosis can affect every aspect of a person’s life. Here’s how:
- Physically: Incorrect medicine and delayed treatment lead to unnecessary suffering.
- Mentally: Patients who have been misdiagnosed deal with psychological stress that no patient should endure. They’re dismissed by the medical community when they know something just isn’t right.
- Financially: Extra doctor visits, time missed from work, corrective procedures — these things aren’t cheap and create large holes in household budgets.
- Emotionally: Being told you have x, y, or z disease, only to find out later it’s something else is traumatizing. Many people report depression or a total withdrawal from life after being misdiagnosed.
Again… there’s nothing about misdiagnosis that doesn’t affect whole-person wellness.
The Conditions Most Likely to Be Misdiagnosed
Are you more likely to be misdiagnosed with something common or rare?
Counterintuitively, common illnesses tend to be diagnosed incorrectly more often. Some of the most prevalent diseases in the U.S. have misdiagnosis rates as high as 30%.
Conditions that fall into this “most commonly misdiagnosed” category include:
- Stroke — misdiagnosed 17.5% of the time
- Sepsis
- Pneumonia
- Venous thromboembolism
- Lung cancer
Across all illnesses, misdiagnosis occurs at a rate of around 11%, according to Johns Hopkins researchers. But even that number isn’t quite cut and dry.
Diagnosis accuracy appears to vary widely by demographics. Women and minorities are 20-30% more likely than others to receive the wrong diagnosis, per research by ECRI patient safety organization.
What To Do If You Think Your Diagnosis Is Wrong
In cases of misdiagnosis, doctors have all the power… Except they don’t.
Patients who suspect they’ve been diagnosed incorrectly can (and should) take the following steps:
- Consult a Second Opinion. Studies show that nearly 1 in 5 patients who were later diagnosed with serious conditions received an entirely different diagnosis from their second doctor. If the accuracy of a diagnosis is in question, seeing another provider is the right move.
- Document Everything. As with any potential malpractice situation, patients should keep records of symptoms, diagnosis, medications, procedures, and every interaction with healthcare professionals. This will be important if a malpractice lawsuit is filed.
- Ask Questions. Don’t be afraid to ask which tests were run (and which ones weren’t), and how the provider arrived at their diagnosis. Patients have a right to understand their medical care.
- Trust Your Gut. If an official diagnosis doesn’t quite fit how a patient is actually feeling — push back. Request further testing. Seek a second opinion.
Misdiagnosis Malpractice Claims: When They’re Needed
As mentioned, medical malpractice refers to instances where doctors and hospitals provide sub-standard care to patients.
Misdiagnosis can be grounds for malpractice if certain criteria are met. But it’s important to understand that not every diagnostic error qualifies.
Doctors are only considered liable for malpractice if:
- The provider was negligent in offering a timely diagnosis (e.g. refused to order tests)
- A condition was missed (possibly due to skipped tests)
- An incorrect treatment was prescribed based on the original diagnosis
- The patient experienced harm as a direct result of delayed diagnosis or treatment
Simply put: if there was negligence involved in a diagnostic error, patients have a right to compensation. Roughly 17,000 malpractice lawsuits are filed in the U.S. every year — a fraction of the cases that could qualify.
Medical Misdiagnosis Can Ruin Lives… But You Have Rights
Too many horror stories about medical misdiagnosis end the same way:
Patient never sues. Patient sets up payment plans for mounting medical bills. Patient suffers.
But it doesn’t have to end this way.
If a misdiagnosis occurred due to negligence on the part of a provider, speaking with a malpractice attorney is a step worth taking.
No patient should be financially burdened because of someone else’s mistake.
And no one has to suffer in silence.