In July 2019, the Johns Hopkins Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality announced the publication of study findings identifying the three categories of diagnostic error that caused the most harm, including 15 conditions that account for nearly half of all misdiagnosis injuries and death. The “big three”, as the top three categories are referred to, are cancers, vascular events and infections, and they account for nearly 75% of all serious permanent disability and deaths associated with misdiagnosis.
Most Dangerous Diagnostic Errors
The paper, titled Serious misdiagnosis-related harms in malpractice claims: The “Big Three” – vascular events, infections, and cancers was published in the journal Diagnosis. A research team led by David Newman-Toker, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Johns Hopkins Armstrong Institute Center for Diagnostic Excellence, analyzed medical malpractice case and found that diagnostic error was not only the most common medical error, but also the most harmful and most expensive. They looked at 11,592 diagnostic error cases between 2006 and 2015 found that the majority of diagnostic errors resulting in permanent disability or death were associated with the “big three” as follows:
- Cancers – 37.8%
- Vascular events – 22.8%
- Infections – 13.5%
The 15 specific conditions identified as accounting for nearly half of all misdiagnosis-related harms were:
- Stroke
- Heart attack
- Venous thromboembolism – blood clots in the legs and lungs
- Aortic aneurysm and dissection – a rupture of the aorta
- Arterial thromboembolism – a blockage of the blood supply to internal organs
- Sepsis
- Meningitis and encephalitis
- Spinal infection
- Pneumonia
- Endocarditis – a heart infection
- Lung cancer
- Breast cancer
- Colorectal cancer
- Prostate
- Skin cancers
If you believe that you injuries or the death of a loved one was the result of diagnostic error, please call Alison Mason Heurich, Esq. at 240-346-4883 or email us today to schedule your free consultation.
Alison Mason Heurich, Esq., Senior Attorney