Misdiagnosed Cancer Worse Than Thought

According to the BMJ Quality and Safety Journal, an estimated 28 percent of cancers are misdiagnosed, with lymphoma being the most misdiagnosed cancer of all. The BMJ Quality and Safety Journal is a peer-reviewed healthcare journal dealing with improving patient safety and quality of care. The journal was established in 1992 as Quality in Health Care Breast. Sarcomas, melanomas and cancer of an unknown site followed lymphoma on the list of the most misdiagnosed cancers.

The top reasons for misdiagnosis of a cancer are:

1.  “Fragmented or missing information across medical information systems” (38.5 percent)
2. “Inadequate pathology diagnostic resources” (22 percent)
3. “Inadequate genetic/genomic information available at the time of diagnosis” (20.3 percent)

Most doctors agree that they need new and improved pathology tools and resources, more readily available tumor genetic testing and improved radiology tools. Almost thirty percent of doctors believe that lawmakers should offer incentives to hospitals that gather information of the misdiagnosis of diseases. While the solution to this problem may not be clear-cut, from those statistics it is clear that something needs to done.

Read more about the study.

Do You Have a Medical Malpractice Case?  We will consult with board certified physicians and review the merits of your medical malpractice claim for free.   

Fill our the online Case Review Form here