Being misdiagnosed with an illness is extremely stressful and can have a significant impact on a patient's overall health. However, when this happens to a pregnant woman, the implications can be particularly severe.While medical professionals - including GPs, hospital staff and dentists - mostly provide an efficient and reliable service to members of the public, mistakes can happen, and any delay in treatment can result in avoidable damage. Whether the misdiagnosis is due to doctors failing to identify the correct illness, or there is too much time between diagnosis and treatment, the impact can be significant. Ectopic pregnancy An ectopic pregnancy occurs when a fertilised egg implants itself in one of the fallopian tubes, meaning a baby cannot develop. As well as being heart-breaking for the expectant mother, an ectopic pregnancy can also cause severe physical pain. However, in some cases, ectopic pregnancy can be wrongly diagnosed. Doctors and other medical staff with limited training in ultrasound image analysis can occasionally misinterpret a healthy pregnancy as ectopic, resulting in an unnecessary termination. Pre-eclampsia Usually occurring in the second half of pregnancy, pre-eclampsia can cause serious complications for both mother and baby if it is not monitored and treated. Symptoms include swelling of the feet, face and hands, a headache and vision problems. The illness can be more serious if a medical practitioner fails to notice the symptoms, or fails to educate a pregnant woman about the risks involved. Other forms of misdiagnosis Misdiagnosis could happen to anyone, and can cause severe emotional and physical harm to those involved. Cancer Although services for people with cancer have improved, misdiagnosis of the illness can still happen. While diagnosis of the disease relies heavily on test results, in some cases medical professionals might tell a patient they have cancer when they actually have not. In other instances, patients can receive negative results from a scientific examination, or a team of doctors might fail to make any sort of diagnosis. If there has been a delay in receiving the correct information, the cancer can grow untreated. It can take just months for the misdiagnosis of cancer to have an adverse effect - this depends, however, on the type of cancer and how aggressive it is. Compensation can be awarded to patients who - had their illness been discovered earlier - may have experienced a different outcome. Diabetes While diabetes can be fairly simple to diagnose, individuals living with the condition may fail to notice its symptoms. Regular medical care is essential for people with diabetes, even if they feel the condition is under control. In most cases, the illness is identified through a simple blood test. However, if it is misdiagnosed, patients can suffer potentially life-threatening consequences. This can also be the case if a doctor deems it the incorrect subtype. Heart disease Instances where the mistakes of one or more medical professionals result in a slow diagnosis of a heart attack are especially common. As the majority of people who experience severe chest pain and other symptoms seek treatment in an A&E department, a number of trained staff could potentially misdiagnose - including physicians, cardiologists and triage nurses. If a doctor fails to identify a heart attack, the patient is at an increased risk of complications, which could eventually result in death. *Article written by and in association with www.hospitalnegligence.co.uk.
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