Three symptoms often overlooked at the doctor's office

Medication side effects, pneumonia and high blood pressure are common symptoms that are all too frequently misdiagnosed by doctors. These types of symptoms should be picked up when a patient is visiting his doctor, but close to two-thirds of diagnosis errors occur while someone is actually at the doctor’s office.

Generally, these sorts of errors occur because some sort of miscommunication took place between doctor and patient. Though such a mistake may at first seem understandable, over 30 percent of these errors can result in permanent injury or death.

Often diagnosed as fatigue, medication side effects left untreated can result in liver and kidney damage. These side effects can often be discovered if the doctor looks at the patient’s chart and compares the different kinds of drugs that a patient is taking.

Pneumonia is often misdiagnosed as the flu. Especially for men this can be a serious mistake. A University of Pennsylvania study suggests that men are 30 percent more likely to die of pneumonia than are women.

And high blood pressure is too often attributed to stress or the consumption of coffee. The effects of high blood pressure can lead to increased risk of heart attack or stroke.

For all of their education, doctors and nurses do not always know how to speak to their patients. If you believe a mistake has led to a mistake in diagnosis, please visit with a medical malpractice attorney to determine what your options may be. Miscommunications should not be occurring at the doctor’s office.

Source: Men’s Health News, “3 Things Your Doctor Might Miss,” by Cindy Kuzma, March 3, 2013