Top Five Misdiagnosed Medical Conditions

The misdiagnosis rate is alarmingly high, mostly because doctors simply don’t collect enough evidence to make a proper diagnosis. To avoid the dreaded defensive medicine label, many doctors no longer order a complete array of diagnostic tests. Furthermore, in the name of reducing costs, they often ask nurses or other less-qualified professionals to interpret test results. 

Finally, doctors don’t have much evidence to fill in the gaps. An average doctor listens to an average patient for only eleven seconds.

If a lack of evidence, or any other medical mistake, causes misdiagnosis or another injury, Medical Malpractice Attorneys in Los Angeles can usually obtain substantial compensation in court. This compensation usually includes money for economic losses, such as medical bills, and non economic losses, such as pain and suffering. 

Additional punitive damages are usually available in these cases as well, mostly because doctors have such a high standard of care. The bigger they are, the harder they fall.

What Are The Five Most Commonly Misdiagnosed Medical Conditions?

Head Injuries

The symptoms of accident-related head injuries closely resemble accident shock. Additionally, since adrenaline masks accident pain, many victims tell emergency responders they “feel fine.”

Berry Oakley, who was the bass player for the Allman Brothers, sustained a serious head injury in a 1972 motorcycle crash. But emergency responders believed his head injury symptoms, such as confusion and mild headache, were symptoms of accident shock. Oakley got a ride home with friends. Less than a day later, an undiagnosed head injury killed him.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, another common crash-related head injury, is often misdiagnosed as well. Doctors often confuse initial PTSD symptoms with Normal Stress Response, a temporary condition that usually goes away on its own. So, these victims don’t get the treatment they need when they need it.

Strokes

Many doctors believe that strokes are strictly age-related conditions. A stroke occurs when a blood vessel that carries oxygen and nutrients to the brain is either blocked by a clot or bursts (or ruptures). When that happens, part of the brain cannot get the blood (and oxygen) it needs, so it and brain cells die.

Doctors often misdiagnose strokes, especially TIAs (transient ischemic attacks, or mini-strokes), as headaches, dizziness, vertigo, or an inner ear infection.

Cancer

For several reasons, the cancer misdiagnosis rate is significantly higher than the overall medical misdiagnosis rate. 

This disease has a very long latency period. Because of this delay, patients often don’t connect the dots in environmental cancer cases, such as mesothelioma or Agent Orange exposure. If they don’t make the connection, their doctors certainly won’t make it for them.

Additionally, to many doctors, cancer is exclusively a genetic or lifestyle condition. So, as far as they’re concerned, only people with a family history of cancer get cancer, and only people who drink heavily get liver cancer.

If the patient exhibits no genetic or lifestyle markers, most doctors don’t administer diagnostic tests. As a result, their conditions worsen. A Los Angeles Medical Malpractice Law Firm obtains the financial compensation these victims need to fight their advanced illnesses.

Heart Attacks

Most doctors rely exclusively on signature symptoms to diagnose heart attacks. That’s especially true in busy emergency rooms, where doctors are under tremendous pressure to move from one patient to the next one.

Many heart attack victims don’t have these signature symptoms. For example, many female heart attack patients don’t have severe chest pain. As a result, a doctor might misdiagnose a heart attack as angina or even heartburn.

Autoimmune Diseases

We collect all autoimmune diseases, such as Addison disease, celiac disease, dermatomyositis, Graves disease, and hashimoto thyroiditis, into one category. These diseases are very rare. Without abundant evidence, an early and accurate diagnosis is almost impossible.

Contact our experienced Medical Malpractice Lawyers Today!

When it comes to disease diagnosis, many doctors don’t live up to their duty of care. For a free consultation without experienced California Medical Malpractice Attorneys, contact the Law Offices of Eslamboly Hakim. We do not charge upfront legal fees in these matters. 

If you believe you or a loved one is a victim of misdiagnosed medical conditions or medical malpractice, wait no longer to contact us. Call us right now at 800-LAW-TALK (1-800-529-8255) to pursue a fair compensation.