misdiagnosis

Woman sues radiology company over multiple cancer misdiagnoses

Published on: June 2, 2014 | by Patrick E. Knie

These days, to maintain your health, you have to be proactive. If you can manage it, exercising is a good idea, and getting regular medical checkups could be crucial to preventing or properly treating an illness. However, even when patients do try to cover their bases and seek preventative care, sometimes medical professionals fail in their duties and misdiagnose an illness.

That was the case for one woman who in 2007 underwent her first mammogram. She thought she was being proactive about her health, but she undoubtedly came away from the experience worried. A calcification about the size of a nickel was revealed in her right breast.

Outpatient misdiagnoses more common than you might think

Published on: April 18, 2014 | by Patrick E. Knie

A group of researchers has finished a study that comes to an unsettling conclusion about outpatient medical care: misdiagnosis is widely underreported and surprisingly common.

Much is said about diagnostic errors in hospitals, that is, in facilities that provide inpatient care. However, there is a great dearth of information about misdiagnoses by small-practice doctors and clinics. Looking at three previous studies, researchers at Baylor College of Medicine found that one in 20 — or 12 million U.S. adults — are misdiagnosed at medical clinics and doctors’ offices each year.

Surgical glove found in patient two years later, lawsuit pending

Published on: December 31, 2013 | by Patrick E. Knie

It’s just about every person’s fear that something will go wrong when they go in for surgery. That’s because, despite the insistence of hospital staff that patients are well taken care of, residents here in South Carolina know that medical mistakes can happen anywhere and often have life-changing consequences as well.

Our readers here in Spartanburg can see this exemplified by a case of medical malpractice in which a woman was diagnosed with ovarian cancer only to realize that this was a misdiagnosis when a non-latex glove was discovered in her abdomen from a surgery two years previously. Much like anyone here would do in her situation, the woman is now suing the hospital for its negligence and is seeking compensation for the problems this mistake has caused her.