Failing To Diagnose Means That The Proper Diagnosis Was:
- Delayed
- Wrong
- Missed
- Results in harm to the patient
FAILING TO TIMELY AND PROPERLY DIAGNOSE IS A COMMON OCCURRENCE:
- 12 million Americans are misdiagnosed as outpatients
- More than 50% of Americans will be a victim of failure to diagnose in their lifetimes
- 66% of inpatients needed to have their initial diagnosis changed
- Women and minorities are 20% to 30% more likely to be misdiagnosed
THE FAILURE TO DIAGNOSE IN NOT ONLY COMMON BUT CAN BE VERY DEADLY:
- One-Third of medical malpractice cases that cause death or permanent disability are the result of misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis
- Up 80,000 million Americans die in a hospital due to the failure to promptly diagnose
WHY DOES FAILURE TO DIAGNOSE HAPPEN:
- Incompetence
- Failure of the medical doctor to take a proper history
- Delay in ordering proper tests
- Failing to order proper tests
- Failing to properly interpret test results
- Failing to follow up test results
- Failing to refer a patient to specialist
- Failing to confer with a specialist
- Failing to inform the patient of their test results
THE MOST COMMON FAILURE TO DIAGNOSE CASES ARE:
- Infection
- Colorectal Cancer
- Lung Cancer
- Breast Cancer
- Heart Attack
- Prostate Cancer
- Sepsis
- Pulmonary Embolism
- Brain Hemorrhage
- Bladder Cancer
- Pneumonia
- Kidney Failure
- Urinary Tract Infections
- Reproductive Cancers
- Babies In Distress During Delivery
- Anesthesia Errors
- Cauda Equina Syndrome
- Herniated And Bulging Vertebral Discs Causing Spinal Nerve Death
- Intestinal Bleeding
- Retinal Detachment
- Medication Errors
