Every year, thousands of Ohio residents receive incorrect diagnoses that leave them permanently disabled or result in death. Nationwide, more than 100,000 people suffer the same fate due to delays or inaccurate diagnoses. Misdiagnoses continue to be a significant issue.
Three health problems account for the most missed diagnoses
Recent research from Johns Hopkins University has discovered that infections, vascular events and cancers are the most commonly misdiagnosed ailments. These three categories represent about 75% of diagnostic delays, some of which can lead to serious consequences for patients. Researchers evaluated 11,592 diagnostic error cases between 2006 and 2015 in the national Comparative Benchmarking System database. Such errors can occur in all medical categories, but the most serious errors involved cancers at 37%, vascular events at 22%, and infections at 13%. The most commonly misdiagnosed conditions include the following:- Stroke
- Sepsis
- Lung cancer
- Coronary
- Severe blood clots
- Meningitis
- Encephalitis
- Breast, prostate and skin cancers