Studies of autopsies have shown that doctors seriously misdiagnose fatal illnesses about 20 percent of the time. So millions of patients are being treated for the wrong disease.
As shocking as that is, the more astonishing fact may be that the rate has not really changed since the 1930's. "No improvement!" was how an article in the normally exclamation-free Journal of the American Medical Association summarized the situation.
Ok, that's America. What about NZ? I shouldn't imagine our rates are even approaching as GOOD as theirs, given that there is almost no recourse in NZ against medical idiocy. Personal story: A friend's son was misdiagnosed for over a year as having depression and other mental illnesses, rather than aggressive, terminal cancer. The only reason it was ever recognised is because he got sick enough to be admitted to the ER with body failure, basically. What will happen to that GP? Nothing. And what will happen to that man's 6-yr-old son, growing up without a dad?
But this is an interesting idea, from a company in the USA started by a father after his daughter was misdiagnosed with chicken pox (she actually had a flesh-eating virus): The company sells software that allows doctors to type in a patient's symptoms and, in response, spits out a list of possible causes. It does not replace doctors, but makes sure they can consider some unobvious possibilities that they may not have seen since medical school.
It costs about US$750 per doctor or US$80,000 per hospital, per year. A) Does NZ know about this system? And B) can it be made available to at least some doctors/hospitals here? It sounds like a pretty low cost to me, when it comes to saving someone's life.
(all quotes from the nytimes.com. Visit the article at: NYTimes.com)
Reading: - Romulus, My Father - Raimond Gaita
Just Read: - Reaper Man - Terry Pratchett