When you visit a medical professional, you expect this person to take great care of you. This means providing you with an accurate diagnosis without delay. Unfortunately, there are times when a doctor makes a mistake.
There is nothing about medical misdiagnosis to take lightly. This is a serious situation that has serious consequences.
For example, a misdiagnosis typically means the actual problem is not treated at the appropriate time. For this reason, there is a good chance that the disease could worsen.
While you do your best to protect against medical misdiagnosis, this is not always enough. You have to put your trust in somebody, and it is typically a doctor. If this person tells you something is wrong, you will believe this professional. The same holds true if he or she tells you nothing is wrong.
If a doctor makes any mistake, such as neglecting to run the appropriate test, it could lead to a medical misdiagnosis. The end result is receiving treatment for a problem you don’t have, while ignoring the actual issue. With serious diseases, such as cancer, this can lessen your life expectancy.
The problem with a medical misdiagnosis is that you don’t typically find out about this until the problem has become worse. Even so, if you find yourself in this position, you should immediately receive treatment from a more qualified medical team. Only then will you truly know what is wrong with you, how to treat the issue, and what type of outlook you have.
Understanding the seriousness of a medical misdiagnosis will help keep you on your toes at all times.
Source: FindLaw, “Failed/Erroneous Diagnosis and Treatment,” accessed Jan. 14, 2016