Massachusetts Personal Injury Library
Consequences of Delayed Diagnosis or Failure to Diagnose (Part A)
How common are delayed diagnoses, misdiagnoses, or a failure to diagnose?
According to the website WrongDiagnosis, “A study of Patient Safety Incidents (PSIs) by HealthGrades found that ‘Failure to Rescue’, meaning failure to diagnose and treat in time, was the most common cause of a patient safety incident, with a rate of 155 per 1,000 hospitalized patients. Unfortunately, the study did not further break down statistics into the types of misdiagnosis, delayed diagnosis or other factors.”
What are the consequences?
Serious illnesses and complications can ensue when diagnoses are delayed or even not identified at all.
Failure to Diagnose
- Symptoms continue
- Symptoms get worse
Misdiagnosis
- Treatment is ineffective
- Treatment can be harmful
- Wrong medications are prescribed
- Medications mask clues that would lead to a proper diagnosis
Delay in Diagnosis
- Your condition worsens
- Your condition gets to the point where it is incurable
- You die
Untimely Medication
Medications play a huge factor in the care and treatment of patients; however, these very same life saving pills could be the cause of some symptoms that appear to be a medical condition.
Examples include:
- Headache medications – can cause rebound headaches and mimic migraines
- Prescription steroids – can cause diabetes
- Some medications for the elderly cause dementia and delirium which could be misdiagnosed as Alzheimer’s or stroke
Continue to Consequences of Delayed Diagnosis or Failure to Diagnose (Part B) >>
