Misdiagnoses cost the U.S. 800,000 deaths and serious disabilities every year, study finds
An estimated 371,000 people die every year following a misdiagnosis, and 424,000 are permanently disabled, researchers reported in a study published in BMJ.
Diagnostic errors — that is, overlooking a disease, or diagnosing it erroneously or late — are a known occurrence in health care, and one that can have tragic effects. Yet so far there have been few attempts to quantify misdiagnoses in terms of deaths and permanent disability, and the full scale of their impact has been underestimated by the medical community, according to a 2015 report by the National Academy of Medicine.
A new study, published this week in BMJ, finally addresses that gap. An estimated 371,000 people die every year following a misdiagnosis, and 424,000 are permanently disabled — a total of 800,000 people suffering “serious harm,” said David Newman-Toker, the lead author of the paper and a professor of neurology at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and director of its Center for Diagnostic Excellence. Settling on an exact number is hard because many cases of misdiagnosis go undetected, he said. It could be fewer than his study identified, or more — between half a million and a million — though in any event it would be the most common cause of death or disability due to medical malpractice.
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