Medical errors:
New reports show more than 40-percent of hospital patients report being victims of a medical error.
Those same projections show upwards of 98-thousand people die from those same mistakes annually.
One victim's story:
Billie-Marie Morrison is a Nevada-based medical lawyer whose long struggle with an unknown health problem eventually inspired her to host her own radio show about women's health.
The first instance of her problem was at a Fourth of July party, where she found herself unable to catch her breath while dancing. Previously diagnosed with asthma, she paid little attention to the event. About five months later, she started experiencing sleeping problems accompanied by an extreme shortness of breath. Soon, the problems got so bad that she had to start sleeping in an upright position.
No longer able to blame asthma, she found other excuses like allergies and stress. Morrison's concerned friends forced her to go to a walk-in clinic. There, she was diagnosed with both pneumonia and bronchitis and received antibiotics. The drugs didn't seem to work, which made all the more sense after a radiology report from the visit showed a high likelihood of congestive heart failure and heart disease.
Morrison saw her cardiologist and was eventually diagnosed with a serious heart disease called cardiomyositis. On top of her unrelated struggle with pneumonia, this disease was causing only half of her heart to pump blood, using only 1/10th of its potential. Her recovery was slow, but doctors put her on a strict regimen of medications that began strengthening her heart bit by bit. After surviving such an acute case of heart disease, she went on to host a show called "Double Take," which was aimed at taking an in-depth look at frequently reported women's health problems.
Another victim:
Mary Hegland thought weight gain and fatigue meant she was getting older. "I actually thought my blood pressure medicine wasn't working."
She gained 43-pounds in 19-days, and was diagnosed as pre-diabetic - then told it was pneumonia. The real problem: congestive heart failure.
Women and heart disease:
More women than men die from heart disease each year. But women get just 33-percent of angioplasties and 36-percent of open-heart surgeries. The result: 75-percent of men survive a first heart attack, while only 62-percent of women do.
"Sometimes women just feel short of breath, nauseated, sweaty … that could be a full-blown heart attack," says Dr. Carlos Fonte, a cardiologist at Sunrise Hospital in Las Vegas, NV
Quiz Yourself:
Here are some questions for women: fatigue, weight gain and hair loss means perimenopause and depression, right?
The actual diagnosis: Hy-po-thy-roid-ism.
How about dizziness in women, loss of leg control and vomiting? Inner ear issues, right?
The actual diagnosis: A stroke. "Their memory is getting worse and sometimes this is a sign that they're having a mini stroke," says Dr. Fonte.
Misdiagnosis:
According to the article "Why Doctors So Often Get it Wrong," published in the February 22nd, 2006 edition of the New York Times, doctors misdiagnose fatal conditions about 20% of the time.
An article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association called "No improvement!" showed that this problem has not improved at all since the 1930's, showing that all of the advancements in medical technology have done nothing to prevent it.
Some believe that the lack of incentive for doctors to cure a patient is to blame, as doctors are not forced to go above and beyond their paid base duty of running simple tests.
According to CNN, the five most commonly misdiagnosed conditions are aortic dissection, cancer, clogged arteries, heart attack and infection.
Warning signs:
So what should you be watching out for?
For the best shot at a correct diagnosis, report all symptoms to your doctor and describe them in detail.
Most importantly, go with your gut. And if you think your complaints are being dismissed or ignored, ask another doctor.
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