Top medical researchers are sounding the alarm that an estimated 795,000 American patients continue to die or become permanently disabled each year because they are being diagnosed with the wrong conditions.
For years, the public hasn’t known much about the full scope of medical misdiagnoses that happen in the U.S., according to a new report released by the Johns Hopkins Armstrong Institute Center for Diagnostic Excellence. Until now, estimates of annual incorrect diagnoses have varied widely, the report says.
Now, researchers say an estimated 371,000 patients die and 424,000 are permanently disabled each year because they are incorrectly diagnosed across a range of medical care settings — not just in the family doctor’s office.
The estimate “matches data produced from multiple prior studies that focused on diagnostic errors in ambulatory clinics and emergency departments and during inpatient care,” the report says.
The enormous numbers of misdiagnoses are a public health emergency, the report’s lead author said. “Diagnostic errors are, by a wide margin, the most under resourced public health crisis we face,” said Dr. David Newman-Toker, director of the Johns Hopkins diagnostic excellence center.
Medical professionals continue to misdiagnose patients because there isn’t enough attention and funding given to the problem across the medical field, Newman-Toker said.
“Funding for these efforts remains a barrier,” he said.
How often do doctors misdiagnose something?
Overall, medical providers misdiagnose diseases about 11% of the time, the report says.
Some diseases are missed at low rates, whereas others are missed more than half the time, researchers found.
On the lower end of the spectrum, only 1.5% of heart attacks are misdiagnosed, researchers found. On the higher end: 62% of spinal abscess are incorrectly diagnosed.
Strokes are top problem among misdiagnosed conditions
Researchers found strokes that are misdiagnosed are the most serious problem for patients and their families.
Among all cases of stroke, the condition was missed in more than 17.5% of the time, researchers said.
Doctors miss these 5 diseases the most, researchers say
Just five diseases account for nearly 40% of all deaths and permanent disabilities stemming from incorrect diagnoses, according to the report.
- Stroke
- Sepsis
- Pneumonia
- Blood clots
- Lung cancer
Because a small number of diseases make up a large share of the problem, researchers say they are hopeful it will be easy to for medical care providers to focus their efforts in certain areas.
The report found reducing diagnostic errors by 50% for stroke, sepsis, pneumonia, pulmonary embolism and lung cancer could cut permanent disabilities and deaths by 150,000 per year.
