Five Commonly Misdiagnosed Conditions

In ye olden days, most doctors had long conversations with most patients. But that is no longer the case. In fact, during most appointments, doctors only listen to their patients for an average of eleven seconds. During such a brief interaction, it’s impossible to obtain any meaningful information about a patient’s symptoms.

The level of doctor/patient interaction has changed, but a doctor’s legal duty toward a patient remains unchanged. Because of this high legal duty, a Los Angeles personal injury attorney can often obtain substantial compensation for misdiagnosis victims. This compensation usually includes money for economic losses, such as medical bills, and noneconomic losses, such as pain and suffering.

Stroke

Both false negatives (stroke chameleons) and false positives (stroke mimics) are common in these situations. Epileptic seizures and migraine headaches are among the most frequent stroke mimics. Common stroke negatives include fatigue and alcohol intoxication. Both kinds of misdiagnosis have serious repercussions for victims and families. These individuals either do not get the treatment they need or are subject to unnecessary procedures and medications.

Lyme Disease

This illness is the most common vector-borne condition in the United States. Because its symptoms are nonspecific, it’s also one of the most frequently misdiagnosed conditions in California. Additionally, the symptoms vary significantly according to the stage of the illness. If properly diagnosed, Lyme Disease can usually be almost fully cured within weeks. In other cases, Lyme Disease patients quickly deteriorate. Further complicating matters, the most common Lyme Disease test, an antibody test, generates a number of false positives.

Cancer

According to some estimates, cancer’s misdiagnosis rate might be twice as high as the standard misdiagnosis rate.

Most physicians view cancer as a genetic or lifestyle condition. They often do not consider cancer as a possibility if the patient has no family history or exhibits no risky behavior (e.g. smoking and lung cancer). 

Overall, cancer survival rates have improved significantly since the 1990s. And, a prompt diagnosis is more important than ever before. Without such a diagnosis, many patients cannot receive the benefit of all these medical advances. Instead, doctors must play catch-up. Against an aggressive opponent like cancer, that’s a very bad position.

Fibromyalgia

Speaking of varying symptoms, this condition is marked by chronic and seemingly random pain in different parts of the body. Typically, doctors do not consider fibromyalgia as a possibility until the condition is advanced. Frequent errant diagnoses include chronic fatigue syndrome and arthritis.

Head Injuries

Accident trauma causes most head injuries. Many doctors misdiagnose early head injury symptoms, like confusion, as shock from the accident. As a result, many victims do not get the treatment they need until their symptoms are advanced and more difficult to address.Medical misdiagnosis is a serious problem in California. For a free consultation with an experienced Los Angeles personal injury attorney, contact the Law Office of Eslamboly Hakim. We do not charge upfront legal fees in these cases.