Sometimes, humans are able to fight off infections and illnesses on their own. However, medical intervention might be needed in more severe cases. Doctors owe you a legal duty of care during the entirety of the period they treat you.
The first stage of treatment is making an accurate diagnosis. This helps to establish what type of medication is going to help you the most. Sadly, a minority of doctors fall at this first hurdle, making a misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis.
Outlined below are some of the more common conditions that are frequently misdiagnosed:
Fibromyalgia
Fibromyalgia is a chronic health condition with various symptoms. Some individuals report feeling exhausted all of the time but unable to sleep. Others suffer from aches and pains across the entire body. There is no definitive test for this condition, and it is usually diagnosed by a process of elimination. Thus, doctors have to be extremely careful and accurate when making a diagnosis, and they have been known to get it wrong.
Pulmonary embolism
The pulmonary artery is the main artery of the lungs. A pulmonary embolism typically occurs when a blood clot forms and the artery is blocked as a result. The most common symptoms of this condition include shortness of breath, chest pains and fainting. For this reason, pulmonary embolisms are often confused with heart attacks. When this happens and the condition remains untreated, it can be fatal.
Getting an accurate diagnosis as quickly as possible is crucial to your well-being. If your doctor has failed in this regard through negligence, then you may be eligible for legal compensation.