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WHEN MEDICAL MISTAKES LEAD TO MISDIAGNOSIS

Medical patients in Kansas and Missouri place their trust in the doctors and medical personnel that oversee their care. At no other time do you feel more vulnerable than when your health is compromised. As a patient, you look to the knowledge and skills your medical caregiver has as the barrier between yourself and a devastating illness.

Doctors and nurses have the obligation to treat their patients with a reasonable standard of care. Most of the time, this dedication to duty is the fail-safe that catches illnesses and diseases before they get out of hand.

When something goes wrong

The practice of medicine has moved forward at the speed of light with regard to improvements in treatment and detection. As medical technology continues expanding, the hope of deadly diseases becoming a thing of the past grows with each promising new development. Even with the latest in medical advances, the technology is only as useful as the trained medical professional who is charged with interpreting the results correctly.

Medical errors cost lives; mistakes in diagnosis rob the patient of precious time -- in come circumstances leading to an unfortunate and perhaps otherwise preventable death. Doctor negligence, which can cause the warning signs of serious ailments to go unheeded, is often cited as the cause for medical misdiagnosis, although mistakes in diagnoses can also be resultant of:

• Doctors failing to order important tests even if they are indicated by medical protocol
• Lab workers mishandling important diagnostic test specimens
• Doctors misdiagnosing tumors as harmless when they are indeed malignant
• Doctors, nurses, and other medical staff failing to listen to the concerns and fears of the patient
• 
  

Patients at risk

A survey conducted by the National Patient Safety Foundation asked medical patients if they believed they had been the victims of a medical misdiagnosis or medical error. An amazing 42 percent answered affirmatively. Certain conditions seem to be more commonly misdiagnosed than others. Among these are:

• Breast, cervical, and ovarian cancer
• Prostate cancer
• Type 2 diabetes
• Lyme disease
• Heart disease including acute myocardial infarction (heart attack)
• Meningitis
• Appendicitis
• Lung cancer
• Tuberculosis
• Pulmonary embolism (blood clot in the lung)

One of the more frightening aspects of medical misdiagnosis occurs when fighting the disease is a race against time. For some patients, particularly breast cancer patients and others that follow the scheduled screening tests advised by their doctors, misdiagnosis can be hard to take. Knowing that earlier detection could have meant the difference between getting the right treatment in time and a death sentence can be devastating.

Do no harm

Medical misdiagnosis also includes those situations wherein a patient is subjected to potentially dangerous treatments designed to treat extremely serious conditions like cancer. Chemotherapy and radiation destroy cancerous cells. Incorrect interpretation of test results and negligence can cause a patient to be subjected to medical treatments they do not need. An unfortunate side effect of these treatments is the destruction of healthy tissues as well. Patients who are misdiagnosed and subsequently treated for conditions they do not have face may face new health concerns from the treatment they never needed in the first place.

Medical misdiagnosis fallout

The effects of medical misdiagnosis on families can be devastating. When doctors and other medical workers drop the ball, the ramifications to their patients are serious. Missed diagnosis robs the patient and his/her family members of precious time that could have been spent fighting the illness. Financial hardships and needless suffering are other unnecessary results of medical negligence.

What can you do if you think you have been a victim of medical misdiagnosis? Contact the Missouri and Kansas medical malpractice lawyers at Kansas City Accident Injury Attorneys for more information about medical malpractice. You can schedule a free consultation by calling 888-348-2616, or request our free guide The Truth About Medical Malpractice Claims to learn more.

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• Posted on 7/29/2011Kansas City Hospitals Exceed National Average for Medical Mistakes
• Posted on 5/11/2011Medical Errors a Growing Problem for U.S. Health Care System

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