In a survey of 6,400 physicians, about half of them said diagnostic errors occur in their office every month, and many of those errors cause direct harm to the patients.
Patients may be able to reduce diagnostic errors by seeking a second opinion. Many trust their physicians, but when a doctor fails to properly diagnose the patient in a timely manner, they could be guilty of medical malpractice.
According to a study, radiologists at John Hopkins found that almost 8% of the scans they reviewed had discrepancies. After the final diagnosis was given, the second opinion was found to be correct 84% of the time.
Patients want to believe that their doctors are giving them the best care possible, but errors do occur. It appears that some patients may need to take matters into their own hands by seeking a second opinion, although physicians should be working diligently to avoid diagnostic errors.