For many New Yorkers who have health problems, the road to recovery begins with an accurate diagnosis. Once their condition is properly identified, they can start receiving the treatment and care that they need to get better. However, many people get an erroneous diagnosis, and the treatment that they receive could end up hurting them.
One of the most commonly misdiagnosed health problems is asthma, and research has shown that one-third of all asthma diagnoses are incorrect. Asthma may be misdiagnosed because the illness has gone into remission or a patient is displaying asthma-like symptoms. Either way, it is important for people who have been diagnosed with asthma to be reassessed so that they do not continue to take unnecessary medications.
Celiac disease is another condition that can be difficult for doctors to diagnose correctly because there are so many different symptoms associated with it. Fibromyalgia, a disease that causes pain and chronic fatigue, is frequently confused with other conditions such as lupus and hyperthyroidism. People suffering from Lyme disease are often thought to have fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome due to the flu-like symptoms that don’t go away.
When a patient has symptoms that could be caused by more than one medical condition, a doctor is expected to perform tests in order to rule out possible diagnoses. If a doctor failed to do so and the patient suffers a worsened medical condition as a result, an attorney might review the situation to see if the filing of a medical malpractice lawsuit could be an appropriate way of seeking compensation.
