Syracuse Personal Injury Law Blog
Imagine you go to the doctor for a cough you just can’t beat; it’s something people in Syracuse do all the time. The doctor says what you likely already thought: it’s a cold. He or she gives you a perscription-strength cough supressant and sends you on your way. The problem is, your cough isn’t caused by a cold, but by lung cancer.
This is a frightening scenario that happens all too frequently, reports the New York Post. According to a new study to be published in the British medical journal BMJ Quality & Safety, one in 20 patients in the U.S. are misdiagnosed each year. This boils down to approximately 12 million adults.
In some situations, a misdiagnosis or a delay in diagnosis has no ill effects, but in many situations, it could be deadly.