Findings: In this cohort study of 2428 patient records, a missed or delayed diagnosis took place in 23%, with 17% of these errors causing temporary or permanent harm to patients. The underlying diagnostic process problems with greatest effect sizes associated with diagnostic errors, and which might be an initial focus for safety improvement efforts, were faults in testing and clinical assessment.
Retrospective cohort study conducted at 29 academic medical centers in the US
I figure that the effect of missed and delayed diagnostics are felt much greater in the US compared to places with a functioning system, as fewer people have the means to get regular checkups for issues that are much more life-threatening and costly later.
UHC systems sometimes get overloaded and lead to overworked doctors and nurses making errors, too. I am Canadian and the provincial government where I live is very conservative. Their goal is to wreck the public system so people are ok with increasing privatization. It’s working.
It is so infuriating that they purposely destroy the system to prove that it doesn’t work, absolutely criminal to do that in order to secure future profits.
Ontario?
Alberta
Ah, I’m sorry for your loss.
I’m honestly surprised the number is so low.
My SO as a teen had a mass in their neck which turned out to be thyroid tissue. Due to their age the doctor at the time decided testing for cancer was not needed after removing the excess tissue.
A little over ten years later during a regular exam a doctor again finds a mass in their neck. Ultrasounds are done and a biopsy. Turns out the mass is cancer, thyroid cancer. Two partially successful surgeries where vocal cords were injured both times by an ENT we finally went to a hospital specislizing in cancer treatment. More tests are done and cancerous tissue is found all around their neck and far deeper than the ENT had even bothered to look. A third and final surgery along with radioactive iodine and my SO is cancer free with a joker like smile on their neck, a slightly changed vocal pitch and no thyroid.
The specialist said, but couldn’t confirm since the tissue from a decade ago was destroyed, that if the first doctor over a decade ago had bothered to test what was removed then all these surgeries could have been avoided. The only reason they probably didn’t test was due to my SO’s age since thyroid cancer in a highschool teenager is rare. If the thyroid removal could have been avoided if proper treatment had been done is unknown. But the large scar and the accompanying smaller ones could have. And they said the ENT while certainly able to do the surgery should have referred my SO to them either immediately or after the first surgery when it should have been clear the problem was bigger than anticipated.
We never pursued any malpractice or anything because by then we were emotionally exhausted and my SO’ depression hit an all time high.
Happens more often than you know, but it’s really impossible to prove retrospective cancer.
Little known fact: Medical Malpractice is usually the 3rd leading cause of death in the USA. Second only to heart disease and cancer.
