If a patient goes into a hospital, medical clinic, or any physician’s office, it is reasonable for them to expect a high standard of care. This includes proper diagnosis of any issues that may be present in the patient. When misdiagnosis occurs, it can result in the inability to administer treatment in a timely manner and can often cause lifelong damages, or even death. There are a number of reasons that misdiagnosis occurs and our Chicago medical malpractice attorneys want to help you understand how this is possible.
Improper Training of Advanced Diseases
While patients can expect that doctors fully know all diseases, there are tens of thousands of possible conditions that can potentially affect a human. Not all doctors are aware of the more advanced and mysterious diseases. This can result in the physician confusing a more serious disease with something more common. Far too many diseases carry the same symptoms so it is important to test thoroughly in order to find out the underlying issue.
Failure to Order Proper Testing
Oftentimes, when patients complain of symptoms, it is common for the doctor to order various tests. If certain tests are not ordered, however, it is possible that the underlying issue goes unnoticed. If the tests administered are used to specifically track certain factors, some may go overlooked and the disease can be missed completely.
Similar Symptoms
Unfortunately, there are many instances in which minor and major conditions can have similar symptoms. This can cause some doctors to dismiss the more serious problem without further testing. When the physician assumes that the patient has a minor problem and refuses to administer further testing or care, it can result in misdiagnosis and treatment may not be issued until it is too late or not at all.
Human Error
Doctors are human; this is an unarguable fact. As such, they make mistakes much like everybody else. Unfortunately, they may read test results incorrectly or even cross-patient records. This can lead to misdiagnosis.
If you lost someone you love because they were misdiagnosed or you were injured because of a misdiagnosis, you may be able to take legal action in order to obtain compensation. Discuss your case with our team at Power Rogers in a free case review. We can explain your options and help build a case to help you move forward.