Have You Been Misdiagnosed? Here’s What You Need to Know

Misdiagnosis is a bigger problem than you might think. According to a 2023 study published in the BMJ Quality & Safety, nearly 800,000 Americans each year suffer death or permanent disability due to various diagnostic errors including misdiagnosis. That’s more than the population of Seattle. It is for this reason that misdiagnosis is one of the most common medical malpractice claims. Don’t forget that medical malpractice is also a legal issue.

What is a medical misdiagnosis?

Medical misdiagnosis occurs when your healthcare provider misidentifies your medical condition, often leading to ineffective, harmful or even deadly treatment. Imagine treating cancer as an infection, for example.

Misdiagnosis vs. other diagnostic errors

Misdiagnosis is not the only kind of diagnostic error there is. A delayed diagnosis, for example, is a correct diagnosis that occurs later than it should have. A delayed diagnosis might follow a misdiagnosis. Failure to diagnose means no diagnosis occurs at all. This issue might arise, for example, if someone dies from a heart attack, the autopsy reveals an undiagnosed heart condition, and someone files a wrongful death lawsuit.

Reasons for misdiagnosis

The most common reasons for misdiagnosis include communication errors, rushed exams and failure to order lab testing.

Commonly misdiagnosed conditions

The most commonly misdiagnosed conditions include:

• Autoimmune diseases (such as multiple sclerosis or rheumatoid arthritis)
• Cancer (lung, colorectal, pancreatic, and ovarian cancers)
• Fibromyalgia (often misdiagnosed as depression)
• Heart disease (often misdiagnosed as indigestion or anxiety)
• Infections (such as sepsis and meningitis)
• Pulmonary embolism (often misdiagnosed as anxiety or pneumonia)
• Stroke (often confused with migraines, vertigo, or even voluntary intoxication)

Ultimately, it is possible to misdiagnose almost any condition.

Signs you may have been misdiagnosed

Following is a list of warning signs that may indicate a misdiagnosis:

• The diagnosis doesn’t fit your symptoms. Your doctor diagnoses you with Crohn’s disease, for example, even though you feel no abdominal discomfort and it doesn’t explain your headaches.
• Your doctor diagnosed you without testing first.
• Your condition isn’t improving, or it is getting worse despite aggressive treatment.
• You have a gut feeling that something is wrong. Don’t ignore gut feelings – in some ways you know your body better than your doctor does.

None of these factors provides a guarantee that you were misdiagnosed, but they do increase the likelihood.

What to do if you merely suspect misdiagnosis

If you suspect a misdiagnosis, take the following actions:

Keep a daily journal of your symptoms

Remember that pain constitutes a symptom. Write down anything that happens to your body. This can help your doctor diagnose your condition, and it can help you win a medical malpractice claim.

Request copies of your medical records

You have a legal right to copies of your medical records. Although you might not be able to understand most of them, you might be able to identify obvious errors. They can definitely help another doctor to diagnose your condition.

Get a second opinion

When in doubt, you might even get a third opinion. If your doctor diagnosed you without referring you to a specialist, consider finding another primary care provider and getting a referral to a specialist. Nevertheless, avoid “doctor-hopping” — visiting doctor after doctor until you find one who tells you what you want to hear.

What to do if you have been misdiagnosed

Take the following actions once you confirm a misdiagnosis:

Commence appropriate medical treatment right away

This is the most important step of all. The longer you remain on ineffective medical treatment, the more harm you will suffer. The longer you delay appropriate medical treatment, the more damage your condition is likely to do.

Consider filing a complaint with the state medical board

File a complaint with the State Medical Board of Ohio or the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure (these boards can investigate misconduct and impose professional discipline). This might not help you, but it might help your original doctor’s next patient.

Monitor yourself for long-term health effects

Continue making entries into your symptom journal. Once your treatment is complete, you might not need to make daily entries. Nevertheless, take diligent notes if anything flares up. This documentation can serve as critical evidence for a medical malpractice claim.

Document all of your related costs, time off work, and emotional distress

Be diligent and detailed about this. List everything, including parking expenses at medical facilities. This kind of recordkeeping is crucial evidence of damages in a medical malpractice claim.

When does a misdiagnosis become medical malpractice?

There is no exact “red line” that will tell you exactly when a misdiagnosis rises to the level of medical malpractice. It helps, however, to look at the legal elements of a medical malpractice claim, as set forth below.

The legal threshold for a malpractice claim

To win a medical malpractice claim, you must prove the following facts on a “more likely than not” basis:

• The existence of a doctor-patient relationship: This might not exist if the doctor was a witness who performed first aid at the scene of a construction accident, for example.
• Medical duty of care: You might need medical expert testimony to determine your doctor’s exact duty of care. Should they have ordered lab tests, for example?
• Breach of their duty of care: Based on the foregoing standard of care, your healthcare provider either did something they should not have done, or failed to do something they should have done. Breach of the duty of care equals medical negligence.
• Causation: Your doctor’s negligence must have caused the harm you suffered.
• Damages: The harm you suffered must have generated legally recognizable damages—medical bills, pain and suffering, disfigurement, lost earnings, and other losses.

You must prove all five of the foregoing facts to impose liability on the defendant.

Why all misdiagnoses are not malpractice

Not all medical errors amount to medical malpractice. If they did, then we would be expecting doctors to be perfect, and we would be filing claims against them for any imperfections. Nevertheless, there is a line that society must draw for a doctor. If a “reasonably competent” doctor would not have misdiagnosed you, then your doctor’s misdiagnosis constitutes medical malpractice.

Talk to an experienced medical malpractice lawyer

A medical malpractice claim can be worth a lot of money, but these claims do not enforce themselves. You will need to act decisively, and you will need help from a trusted legal advisor. The Kentucky and Ohio medical malpractice lawyers at Crandall & Pera Law, LLC relentlessly  pursue justice for their clients. Schedule a free case consultation at your earliest convenience so that they can advise you of your rights and explore your options.