HIV patients in New York who also have bronchiectasis are often misdiagnosed. Physicians do not pick up the fact that they also have this particular lung disease which often accompanies HIV. It is often mistaken for another form of ailment. As a result, these patients are denied access to critical lung therapies that can improve their quality of life.
HIV patients often do not get effective healthcare
The healthcare system is often stretched when treating people with HIV due to a lack of doctors and healthcare available in their neighborhoods. In addition, many HIV patients do not have the necessary education or trust in the healthcare system to seek the right kind of treatment. As a result, they simply get what they can in terms of healthcare. This means that their lung disease is not treated early and is in its more advanced stages when doctors finally are able to make the correct diagnosis.
Incorrect diagnosis means the wrong treatment
The proper course of treatment for bronchiectasis is to administer bronchodilator therapy. The patient should be referred specifically to a lung disease clinic for this treatment. Instead, because of the wrong diagnosis, many of these patients are given antimicrobial therapy that is not effective to treat this disease. In many cases, the healthcare system is just too taxed and stressed to take the time to treat these patients correctly. Doctors must be more aware of bronchiectasis since patients now live much longer with HIV than in the past.
If you have HIV and have received poor medical care that has resulted in a missed or incorrect diagnosis, you may be entitled to financial compensation. In fact, any type of erroneous diagnosis can be legally actionable. You should seek the services of a medical malpractice attorney to learn more about how you can file a lawsuit against the physician who treated you or the hospital where you received poor medical care.