Research shows that nearly one in five deaths in US hospitals is caused by misdiagnoses.
An investigation published last month in the journal JAMA examined the 2019 medical records of nearly 2,500 patients at 29 different U.S. hospitals.
All patients were transported to the intensive care unit (ICU), died during their hospital stay, or both.
The researchers found that 23 percent of these patients were misdiagnosed or had a delayed diagnosis. And nearly 18 percent of them died or suffered other serious harm.
The findings are consistent with other grim findings showing that more than a quarter of a million Americans die every year after being misdiagnosed in the emergency room.
Nearly 18 percent of patients who are misdiagnosed die or suffer serious damage as a result
A study published in the BMJ Quality and Safety Protocol shows that nearly 800,000 patients die or become permanently disabled every year as a result of a misdiagnosis. The top conditions that are misdiagnosed include infections, heart problems and cancer
Moreover, a study published last year in the BMJ Quality and Safety Protocol found that 795,000 patients die or become permanently disabled every year due to misdiagnosis.
The study also found that 1.5 percent of heart attacks, 17.5 percent of strokes and 22.5 percent of lung cancers are misdiagnosed.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that nearly 900,000 Americans die each year from heart disease or stroke.
According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), lung cancer is the deadliest form of cancer in the US. It is responsible for one in five cancer deaths, followed by colorectal cancer, which causes one in ten cancer deaths.
More than half of lung cancer cases are diagnosed when the disease has traveled to multiple other organs, making it more difficult to treat.
‘Because the overall burden of serious harm associated with misdiagnosis is quite large, improving the diagnosis of the dangerous diseases that are often responsible – stroke, sepsis, pneumonia, venous thromboembolism and lung cancer – is an urgent need for public health,” the researchers wrote.
Dr. David Newman-Toker, a neurologist professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine who led the BMJ study, said NBC News that rates of misdiagnosis are highest among women and racial and ethnic minorities.
These groups are about 20 to 30 percent more likely than white men to be misdiagnosed or delayed.
“That is significant and inexcusable,” Dr. Newman-Toker said.
Misdiagnosis is also the most common reason doctors in the US are sued for malpractice – alleging that a doctor or healthcare provider was negligent, failed to perform basic duties, or caused a patient to die or be unnecessarily injured .
According to law firm Buchanan Firm, 31 percent of physicians are being sued for failing to diagnose or delaying diagnosis.
Failure to treat or delay in treatment accounts for 16 percent of cases, and wrongful death accounts for 13 percent.
Misdiagnosis could contribute to the U.S. maternal mortality rate, which is the highest among developed countries.
The same groups that are most vulnerable to misdiagnosis are also most affected by maternal mortality.
According to the CDC, non-Hispanic black mothers are 2.6 times more likely to die than non-Hispanic white mothers.
In addition, research has been published in the journal Hypertension found that black women with childbirth-related heart disease tend to be diagnosed later in life than white women.
And a 2020 study found that black children with appendicitis were less likely to be correctly diagnosed than their white peers, even when both groups visited the same hospital.
Dr. Hardeep Singh, a physician at Baylor College of Medicine who specializes in reducing diagnostic errors, told NBC News, “The vast majority of diagnoses can be made by really getting to know the patient’s story, asking follow-up questions, and examine the patient. , and ordering basic tests.”
“One of the things we hear over and over again is, ‘The doctor didn’t listen to me.’