Around 7 Million People Misdiagnosed In United States Emergency Rooms Every Year
NEW YORK , NEW YORK (December 18, 2022) – A new study has found that 8% of the 130 million people who are treated in US emergency rooms every year are misdiagnosed.
The report was published on Thursday by the US Department of Health and Human Services. Researchers in the study estimated that 2.6 million of the 7.4 million who were misdiagnosed were harmed.
Around 370,000 people were permanently disabled or died due to their misdiagnosis. On average, this means that every emergency room has about 1,4000 diagnostic errors per year.
There were five types of conditions in particular that were misdiagnosed the most.
- stroke
- myocardial infarction
- aortic aneurysm/dissection
- spinal cord compression/injury
- venous thromboembolism
Strokes, in particular, were misdiagnosed 17% of the time. The American College of Emergency Physicians and the American Board of Emergency Medicine took issue with the report.
They described the findings as “incomplete.”
Liability For Diagnostic Errors
Correctly diagnosing a patient can be one of the most difficult things that doctors can do. In many situations, a misdiagnosis may not make any major difference to a patients health outlook. However, a cancer or stroke misdiagnosis can have fatal consequences. There are a number of steps that healthcare providers should take to avoid misdiagnosing errors.
- Healthcare providers should provide adequate time to capture a patient’s medical, surgical, social and medication history.
- Healthcare providers should perform a comprehensive physical examination on their patients.
- Healthcare providers should order diagnostic tests to aid in patient diagnosis.
- Healthcare providers should develop a system to determine when a specialty consultation is needed.
When a doctor or nurse misdiagnosis a patient, this could form the basis of a medical malpractice claim. Generally speaking, medical malpractice occurs when the action or inaction of a healthcare provider deviated from or fell below acceptable standards of medical practice. Damages in a civil claim can help cover many of the expenses that often come with a diagnostic error. A medical malpractice attorney can examine all of the facts of your case and let you know what your legal options are.
Investigating A Diagnostic Error
Have you or someone that you care about been injured due to a medical misdiagnosis? Our team of medical malpractice attorneys at Gersowitz Libo & Korek, P.C. are here to answer any questions that you may have. We care deeply that victims of medical malpractice get the support and justice that they deserve. Whether you just have legal questions or need a free, independent investigation into an accident we are here for you. You can reach out to us anytime at (516) 908-9792.
