The Most Common Misdiagnosed Conditions in Florida

The American Medical Association reports that nearly 800,000 patients are killed or permanently disabled every year because of diagnostic errors and problems stemming from those medical mistakes. While the exact number is unclear, there is no doubt that misdiagnosis of medical conditions is a serious problem and one that can often be avoided.

Medical facilities often establish cost-cutting policies that can increase the likelihood of diagnostic errors. Healthcare providers who are tired, burned out, and more interested in their personal lives than in their patients often fail to pay attention to signs of a serious condition. When that condition is not treated promptly, it can worsen to the point where it causes permanent harm or even leads to death.

Being aware of the conditions that are most commonly misdiagnosed in Florida can help patients understand when to advocate for themselves and seek additional opinions. If it’s too late and a misdiagnosis has already caused serious problems, a Tallahassee misdiagnosis lawyer could work to obtain justice for the harm caused and compensation to offset some of the losses.

Watch for the “Big Three”

There are three types of conditions that are frequently diagnosed incorrectly or ignored by physicians until it is too late to apply the most effective treatments. These are called the “big three” because they are commonly misdiagnosed and because diagnostic errors can have such drastic negative effects on a patient’s life.

1. Cancer

The word “cancer” prompts a wave of fear in most people because it so often proves to be fatal. For that reason, you might assume that doctors would be watching for it carefully to protect their patients. But instead, they often downplay the symptoms, attribute them to something else, and refuse to conduct the tests that would reveal that cancer is the cause. A study reported by the National Institutes of Health found that 46% of diagnostic errors examined involved a missed cancer diagnosis. The most common reasons for these missed diagnoses include errors in a doctor’s clinical judgment, delays in ordering diagnostic tests, or failure to obtain a referral or consult a specialist.

Cancers often missed by doctors include:

• Lung cancer
• Prostate cancer
• Colorectal cancer
• Lymphoma
• Breast cancer

When medical intervention is delayed with these types of cancer, it allows the disease to progress to the point where treatment is much more drastic and where it is less likely to be effective. The impact on the patient’s life and the family’s welfare suffers as a result.

2. Strokes, Heart Attacks, and Other Vascular Events

Medical incidents where critical blood flow in the body is suddenly interrupted can have extremely serious consequences. Blood carries oxygen and nutrients that are vital to bodily functions, and without it, parts of the body suffer damage that can quickly become irreparable. With prompt intervention, this damage can be prevented. But if the symptoms of a heart attack, stroke, aneurysm, or other vascular event are ignored or attributed to some other cause, then essential treatment is postponed or never provided at all.

Strokes are frequently misdiagnosed as vertigo, migraines, or other conditions, particularly in younger patients. Some doctors write off symptoms as signs of drug or alcohol abuse. Similarly, the symptoms of heart attacks are often attributed to some other cause, especially with female patients. Doctors misdiagnose heart attacks as anxiety, acid reflux, or gas pains. 

When doctors fail to give symptoms serious attention and don’t run standard tests that could reveal the true cause of the problems, so that proper treatment can be provided, then those doctors can be held liable for negligence. Misdiagnosis of a vascular event can lead to brain damage or other organ damage that permanently alters the patient’s ability to function and can lead to an untimely death.

3. Dangerous Infections and Sepsis

The human body can fight infections, and that is one reason doctors often fail to give serious consideration to patients who report symptoms of infection. They may assume that patients are exaggerating or seeking a quick fix and that they just need to wait for healing. They often don’t bother to order tests and give serious consideration to the patient’s description of the symptoms in combination.

Infections can lead to permanent damage that spreads throughout the body and causes complications that add further injuries. The body’s reaction to an infection can lead to sepsis, a life-threatening condition caused by an overactive immune response. Sepsis is essentially a chain reaction where the body attacks its own tissues, and it can quickly lead to organ failure and death if not addressed promptly. Yet the symptoms of sepsis are often misdiagnosed and dismissed as something else because doctors do not give appropriate consideration to the patient’s condition.

Why Misdiagnoses are So Common in Florida

There are many potential reasons for misdiagnoses in Florida hospitals and other medical facilities. To recover compensation for patients who have suffered due to a missed or incorrect diagnosis, malpractice attorneys need to investigate thoroughly and consult medical experts who can conclusively explain how the conduct in the particular case caused the patient’s injuries to worsen. 

Sometimes the problems stem from a doctor’s overconfidence in their own abilities. They make quick judgments and are unwilling to consider other possibilities. They don’t see a need to order tests or imaging to confirm their diagnosis. Other times, hospitals and other facilities establish schedules that do not allow healthcare providers to allocate adequate time to each patient. Facilities or providers may not take the time to review a patient’s history or consider how that history relates to the symptoms currently experienced.

Obtaining Justice After a Misdiagnosis

While many people are reluctant to admit they were wrong, doctors and other medical professionals seem particularly averse to acknowledging mistakes in judgment. Their stubbornness is one reason misdiagnosed conditions often cause harm before they are recognized. It also makes it difficult to obtain evidence to prove that the doctor’s mistake is what caused harm in a medical malpractice case. Attorneys must be tenacious and skilled in investigation to uncover evidence that can be used to establish liability against a doctor or hospital.

At Searcy Denney Tallahassee, we understand how to prove that medical errors, such as missed diagnoses, caused harm to our clients, and we know how to obtain justice and full compensation for the losses they suffered. If you or a loved one were harmed because of a misdiagnosed condition or other medical mistake, contact us today to schedule a free case evaluation and learn how we may be able to help you with recovery.