Recognizing a misdiagnosis before it is too late
Posted in Firm News, Medical Malpractice on June 1, 2019
Doctors in Washington uphold the responsibility of helping their patients to manage unwanted symptoms, maintain their health and regain optimal well-being when they are unwell. One of the ways that they do this is by making diagnoses based on a patient’s symptoms and medical history. A delayed diagnosis, an incorrect diagnosis or ignored symptoms can have a detrimental effect on a patient’s health and long-term quality of life.
Because many people do not have a medical background, they may be completely unaware if they have been misdiagnosed. As such, they may continue to suffer discomforting symptoms and could even end up severely injured when symptoms go unnoticed or ignored. According to healthgrades.com, one sign of a potential misdiagnosis is if a second opinion offers a different outcome than the original opinion. Getting a second opinion is recommended, especially for patients who have been diagnosed with a serious health issue. When the original opinion is confirmed, a patient can rest easy knowing the answer is most likely true. However, if the second opinion differs at all, the original diagnosis may have been completely incorrect.
Verywellhealth.com suggests several different warning signs that a patient may have received a misdiagnosis including the following:
- Their doctor seems completely uninterested in listening and has not taken into account the patient’s health history.
- Their doctor continues to prescribe different drugs at the first inclination that one is not working.
- Their intuition is recognizing red flags and telling them that something is not right with what they are being told by their doctor.
If a patient is following everything that their doctor recommended and continues to feel unwell, it could be another sign that the diagnosis they received is false.