The Problem with Should: Could You Be the Victim of a Misdiagnosis? The first week in March is National Patient Safety Week. But it’s not about fire drills or throwing salt on an icy sidewalk. Rather, it calls attention to the large numbers of Americans who suffer or die from medical errors and misdiagnoses.
I’ve been there. “Two labs have confirmed the results of your biopsy,” my doctor told me. “If you don’t begin chemo immediately, you’ll die within months.”
But as you know, the diagnosis was, frighteningly, wrong.
The word “diagnosis” is simply a fancy word for “opinion”. In a medical environment, that opinion is based on accumulated evidence, including your symptoms, test results and previous medical history. Your doctor’s evaluation of that evidence should yield an accurate diagnosis, which should result in the most effective treatment decisions for you.
But “should” is the operative word! And “should” could end up meaning the difference between the right or wrong treatment, or even life or death.
Statistics support the problem with “should”. A survey by Healthgrades.com confirms that almost 500,000 Americans suffer from preventable misdiagnoses or medical errors each year. Of them, close to 100,000 patients die. No wonder patient safety is in question!
No doctor ever intends to make a mistake, yet errors are made every day. Could you become a statistic? Whose responsibility is it to be sure your medical opinion is correct?
It’s YOUR responsibility. Period. No one else has the same stake in your health as you do. Society seems to accept that medical decisions are the doctor’s responsibility. But remember, anyone else’s investment in the accuracy of your diagnosis and effectiveness of treatment decisions isn’t nearly the magnitude of yours.
Taking responsibility does not have to be complicated. There are steps you can take to help your doctor accurately diagnose and treat you.
Start by keeping track of your symptoms, including the times you experience them and what possibly triggers them. Document your medical history to share with your physician, including the history of close relatives. During appointments, record everything your doctor tells you so you can develop questions and research answers to share with her later. And each time you undergo a medical test, request a copy of the results to keep for yourself.
In future columns, we’ll talk about how to handle these tasks effectively. We’ll empower you with the tools you need. It “should” help ensure you don’t become one of those patient safety statistics. © 2006 Trisha Torrey Return to Main List of Columns
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