Before doctors can decide how to treat patients, they first need to understand what causes their symptoms. The diagnostic process is a key component of successful medical treatment. Physicians ask questions and order tests to conclusively diagnose a patient or rule out possible causes of their symptoms. Once they know what condition caused the symptoms, they can develop an appropriate treatment plan.
Patients tend to trust their doctors throughout the diagnostic process, but physicians do sometimes make mistakes. According to recent research, diagnostic errors are among the most common forms of medical malpractice that regularly occur. Estimates indicate that more than seven million diagnostic errors occur annually at emergency rooms. Countless others occur in office and hospital settings.
Rushing through the process, failing to ask the right questions or making assumptions can all impact the accuracy of a diagnosis. There are two main types of diagnostic errors, each of which can have devastating consequences for patients.
A failure to diagnose
Sometimes, physicians struggle to connect the dots connecting symptoms to a specific medical condition. They cannot understand the underlying cause of the symptoms the patient reports, so they turn them away without a diagnosis.
A failure to diagnose can drastically delay the timeline for a patient’s treatment. In cases involving serious medical events, such as cardiac or neurological events, turning a patient away without a diagnosis could prove fatal.
Misdiagnosis
Doctors have to undergo thorough training in the diagnostic process because it is hard to reach an accurate conclusion. Certain symptoms, such as coughs, a loss of energy or rashes, can stem from a variety of different medical causes.
Sometimes, doctors choose the simplest or most common explanation instead of ensuring that they reach an accurate diagnosis. Misdiagnosis can harm a patient’s health by subjecting them to inappropriate treatments and delaying the treatment they need to actually address the cause of their symptoms.
Not every diagnostic issue constitutes malpractice. However, if other physicians could have ordered appropriate tests or reached the right conclusion with the information on hand, then the patient may have experienced medical malpractice.
Pursuing a medical malpractice lawsuit can help compensate those harmed by medical negligence and errors. Patients and their surviving family members may receive compensation for medical expenses, lost wages and other costs related to the malpractice.