A new study by Johns Hopkins Medicine found that misdiagnosing diseases led to permanent disability and death, which is more than any other medical mistake.
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"Diagnostic errors are the most common, most catastrophic and most costly of medical errors," said Dr. David Newman-Toker, who led the research.
They found 15 cases where doctors misdiagnosed a disease, including:
The researchers broke the study down by looking at which diseases doctors miss, which accounted for the most permanent disability and death cases.
- Cancers, especially lung and colon
- Infections, such as meningitis and pneumonia
- Vascular diseases, such as stroke and heart attack
"I think that if we could diagnose these 15 diseases really well, much better than we're doing so now, I think we can eliminate almost half of the preventable harms," Newman-Toker said.
To avoid this happening to you, ask your doctor questions and don’t hesitate to find a second opinion.