Most Commonly Misdiagnosed Conditions in Mercer Island

Posted Friday, November 4, 2022 by Chris Thayer

When it comes to healthcare matters, doctors have considerable education, training, and experience. On the other hand, their patients have almost none of these things. Since patients depend entirely on doctors for most or all of their healthcare needs, doctors have a fiduciary duty. They must bring all their education, training, and experience to bear whenever they meet with a patient, especially when the doctor diagnoses a serious or chronic illness.

Unfortunately for their patients, many doctors take dangerous shortcuts as they diagnose illnesses. Some doctors do not order a full array of diagnostic tests. So, they do not issue an evidence-based diagnosis. Instead, they rely on their instincts. On a related note, some doctors over-delegate test result interpretation tasks to nurses or even patient care technicians. These professionals are not qualified to interpret tests.

Because of this high duty of care, and also because many doctors flagrantly disregard this responsibility, a Mercer Island personal injury lawyer is often able to obtain substantial compensation in medical misdiagnosis claims. This compensation usually includes money for economic losses, such as medical bills, and noneconomic losses, such as pain and suffering. Additional punitive damages are often available, as well.

*Head Injuries* Since 2007, head injury-related ER visits have increased more than 50%, to almost three million a year. About 90% of these victims are treated and released. Primarily, that is because of confusion over head injury symptoms and over the nature of these wounds.

Car wrecks are, by far, the leading cause of head injuries in the United States. Accident shock and initial head injury symptoms are almost identical. Therefore, many doctors immediately dismiss symptoms like neck soreness and general disorientation as temporary maladies that will soon pass. As a result, victims do not get the treatment they need until their injuries are much worse and much more difficult to treat.

Additionally, although science has proved otherwise, many doctors still believe head injuries are temporary conditions that soon pass. As far as they are concerned, rest and hydration are the only necessary treatments.

The higher duty of care applies in both areas. Doctors must thoroughly examine patients, even if these exams are more time-consuming. Additionally, the duty of care requires doctors to keep up with the latest advances in medical knowledge.

*Cancer* Head injuries, especially car crash-related head injuries, can happen to anyone at any time. The same thing is true for cancer. However, to many doctors, cancer is a genetic or lifestyle condition.

Family history is a key cancer predictive tool. However, family history is not always accurate. Toxic exposure cancer is a good example. Many people who work around dangerous chemicals, including Roundup, develop cancer, even though they have no family history of this disease.

Lifestyle is very similar. Many doctors believe that only women get breast cancer, only heavy drinkers get liver cancer, only smokers get lung cancer, and so on. While these things are generally true, they are certainly not always true.

Cancer survival rates have almost shot up since the 1990s. Nevertheless, a delayed diagnosis still causes the survival rate to plummet. As most of us know, it is much harder to win a game if you must play from behind.

*Count on a Hard-Working King County Attorney* Injury victims are entitled to substantial compensation. For a free consultation with an experienced personal injury attorney in Mercer Island, contact Pivotal Law Group, PLLC. Attorneys can connect victims with doctors, even if they do not have any money or insurance.