Medical doctors play an important role in the health and well-being of humans. They have access to testing equipment and can refer patients out to specialists when they need specific types of treatment. They can prescribe medications that can help people treat an illness or control frustrating symptoms.
They also help determine what causes a patient’s symptoms by diagnosing their medical conditions. The diagnostic process can be a lengthy undertaking. Doctors may need to rule out many illnesses before arriving at a diagnosis. They may need to order specialized testing to affirm the presence of a specific type of tumor or a particular pathogen.
Unfortunately, the pressure on medical professionals sometimes prevents them from doing the best work possible during the diagnostic process. Some physicians make mistakes because they rush to conclusions or speed through diagnostic procedures.
How common is it for doctors to fail to accurately diagnose their patients?
Diagnostic failures are a leading form of malpractice
It is impossible to know exactly how many times physicians overlook the right diagnosis for a patient. Many cases go undiscovered and unreported. However, when looking at postmortem records and autopsy results, it becomes quite clear that doctors frequently fail to diagnose patients quickly and accurately.
A recent review of autopsy reports indicates that between 10 and 20% of all autopsies performed in the United States discover undiagnosed medical conditions. In a significant number of those cases, the deceased individuals sought out medical care prior to their passing and may not have received the right attention or testing to diagnose their condition.
Experts estimate that between 40,000 and 80,000 people every year may die because a physician failed to diagnose their health challenges quickly and accurately. Hundreds of thousands of others may have less severe medical consequences caused by diagnostic failures on the part of physicians.
They may suffer from worsening symptoms or take longer to recover because the doctor did not accurately diagnose them. They may have lost wages and medical expenses to cover because of the diagnostic error. If a patient or surviving family members can show that a physician failed to diagnose a patient, there may sometimes be grounds for a medical malpractice lawsuit.
A failure to follow proper diagnostic procedures is a dangerous and common form of malpractice. Filing a medical malpractice lawsuit can potentially lead to compensation for those harmed by a doctor’s failures and may remind the physician in question of how important following diagnostic procedures is.