Medical Misdiagnosis Could Put Patients’ Health at Risk

January 23, 2014

Misdiagnosis is a serious and dangerous problem occurring regularly in the medical field today. Statistics show an estimated 10 to 20 percent of all patients will have their condition misdiagnosed by their physician, a rate that is higher tan that of both drug errors and surgical mistakes. The North Carolina Medical Malpractice Lawyers with HensonFuerst point out a doctor’s medical diagnosis error can lead to the patient undergoing risky procedures that, in the end, could do more harm than good.

WRAL News highlighted serious diagnosis mistakes in a recent report. The article stated many health facilities are using technology known as a CT Scan to identify tumors in patients who are suspected of suffering from lung cancer. A radiologist from Duke University has stated he believes this technique may be putting patients at a risk of misdiagnosis though, because the images taken from a CT scan cannot identify differences between cancerous and benign tumors.

Patients who are misdiagnosed due to the lack of further testing could be put at risk of undergoing life-threatening surgery, radiation therapy, or chemotherapy, in order to remove the tumor, when in fact, the surgery or other procedure may be completely unnecessary.

The North Carolina Personal Injury Lawyers with HensonFuerst are aware of the problems and costs that can arise due to a medical misdiagnosis and are here to help if you have been harmed by a physician’s mistake in identifying or treating your condition.