Big 3 Misdiagnosed Conditions By Florida Health Care Providers
Physicians go through years of medical school and countless hours of on-the-job training during residency, but the nature of practicing medicine leaves the door open to mistakes with diagnosis. Researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine report that an estimated 100,000 Americans die or suffer permanent disability because of diagnostic errors, whether connected to delays, missed conditions, or inaccurate diagnosis. The same report indicates that misdiagnosis is the top form of medical error, leading to the most catastrophic outcomes and skyrocketing medical costs.
These researchers took a closer look at the data to assess which conditions are the most likely to be misdiagnosed and gave them an ominous label: The “Big 3,” which account for almost 75 percent of all diagnostic mistake injuries. Negligence is behind most of these incidents, so it is important to discuss your remedies with a Tampa diagnosis errors lawyer if you suffered harm. You may have a medical malpractice claim based upon the Big 3 misdiagnosed medical conditions, including:
- Infections: More than 13 percent of all diagnosis mistakes that lead to death or serious permanent disability are related to infection. Some signs of infection are outwardly obvious, such as open sores or redness around a wound. However, doctors frequently misdiagnosis a life-threatening blood infection called sepsis. In such a case, the human body overreacts to infection with an extreme response, killing off its own tissue and causing organ failure. Health care providers must monitor patients for fever, chills, high heart rate, and low blood pressure to diagnose sepsis.
- Vascular Events: Accounting for 22.8 percent of all diagnosis mistakes that cause death or harm, the top medical condition misdiagnosed in this category is stroke. Time is of the essence to treat both types of stroke:
- Ischemic, in which a clot blocks blood flow to the brain; and
- Hemorrhagic, where a blood vessel in the brain bursts and leaks blood into the brain.
Neurons and other brain tissues die with every passing moment of oxygen deprivation, so a prompt diagnosis is essential to minimize damage. Plus, certain forms of treatment are only available within a strict time frame. Tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) is effective in treating ischemic stroke, but can only be administered within 4 hours of stroke onset.
- Cancers: Misdiagnosis of cancer is the most common mistake among the Big 3, and it is linked to 37.8 percent of all diagnosis errors that cause patient harm. Within this category, lung cancer ranks at the top. Unfortunately, lung cancer is also the top leading cause of cancer fatalities, making up around 25 percent of all cancer-related deaths – more than colon, breast, and prostate cancers combined.
Rely on a Hillsborough County Misdiagnosis Attorney for Legal Help
Whether it is one of the Big 3 misdiagnosed medical conditions or another diagnostic error that causes harm, patients may have rights under Florida medical malpractice laws. To learn more about your options, please contact Greco & Wozniak P.A. by calling 813.223.7849 or visiting us online. We can schedule a no-cost consultation at our offices in Tampa, FL to discuss details.
Resource:
hopkinsmedicine.org/news/newsroom/news-releases/johns-hopkins-medicine-researchers-identify-health-conditions-likely-to-be-misdiagnosed
