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Honored Contributor
Posts: 16,226
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Misdiagnosed and had surgery!!!

@blackhole99I wonder how unusual misdiagnosis really is -  I know I've heard of it in the past.

 

Will add here that've been fortunate to have insurance that allows for second opinions.  Had a gyno say I needed to schedule hysterectomy immediately.  Called my insurance, got a second-opinion doctor, and I'm so glad!  That all occurred in the early 1990's and I still haven't had that operation!   No misdiagnosis -  just a different opinion on the need for surgery given my condition.

 

 

Trusted Contributor
Posts: 1,168
Registered: ‎10-23-2011

Re: Misdiagnosed and had surgery!!!


@gardenman wrote:

I've been around a lot of cancer docs in my life and misdiagnosed cancer is not uncommon. When you hear of someone getting a typically fatal form of cancer (liver, pancreatic, etc.) and they got cured by taking vitamins, a diet change, or whatever, they didn't really get cured, they just never had that cancer. I saw one hematologist for thirty years and another for over twenty and both had multiple stories of people coming to them who'd gotten a cancer diagnosis only to discover later that they didn't have cancer. Some people had undergone surgery, some radiation and chemo, but never actually had cancer. Multiple opinions should always be sought out, ideally from unassociated docs/medical centers, if/when you get a cancer diagnosis. There's lots of money to be made in treating cancer and some people will use a naive patient as a cash cow, milking payments from them until they've "cured" the cancer that never existed.


You make such a POWERFUL point!!  Thank you for your insight and experience.

 

I also appreciate another poster upthread saying that multiple "opinons" are not always covered by insurance and could cost alot.  Of course, if a person has the means, it's no big deal; however, if a person doesn't have the available means, that could be a big hindrance in avoiding a possible catastrophe!!

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,602
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Misdiagnosed and had surgery!!!

That’s so sad! 

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 7,630
Registered: ‎08-19-2014

Re: Misdiagnosed and had surgery!!!

  Precisely why I don’t run to doctors.They can’t wait to test you into oblivion. I know someone who’s family member was misdiagnosed even with a second opinion.I won’t go into detail but this person was maimed for no reason!! Many lives were affected. The case is in litigation. But no amount of money will ever make up for what that family goes through on a daily basis.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 12,997
Registered: ‎03-25-2012

Re: Misdiagnosed and had surgery!!!

I am 81 and have had many autoimmune diseases for 17 years which can cause malignancies, as well as do the meds prescribed for it.  So I am at high risk for cancer.

 

If I am ever diagnosed with cancer, I will not take any treatment for it other than for pain.  Any surgery would be inadvisable in my weakened state, and even if I survived the surgery, it would cause a rheumatoid flare that would be worse than any cancer treatment. It simply would not be worth it for me and my family.  

Formerly Ford1224
We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Elie Wiesel 1986
Honored Contributor
Posts: 9,139
Registered: ‎04-16-2010

Re: Misdiagnosed and had surgery!!!

To clear a few things up:

 

1) YES YOU CAN get a second opinion via the National Health Services in the UK. My MIL did for her cancer as well as for her shoulder replacement surgery. FIL did as well for his cancer.Many family members have. Do not spread lies.

 

2) US Army took out the WRONG TEETH from my husband. They OPERATED on the WRONG knee on my husband. They placed screws in my husbands' ankle that were NOT for use in the human body. ALL had to be redone via our private insurance after he left the military. What a huge mess it was.

 

3) Dear friend whose husband served in the Marines during Persian Gulf had the WRONG LEG AMPUTATED.  The man then have the correct leg amputated (both below the knee). The wrong one done courtesy of the military, the other via a private hospital in my area. They are still trying to get legal compensation for that mistake.

 

4) Fellow mom almost died of breast cancer as Kaiser Permanente was wrong regarding multiple tests and complaints from her. We (members of a moms support group) pulled together money to send her to a private doctor/hospital (they only had insurance for Kaiser who would NOT pay for a second opinion). Guess what, both breasts had to be removed due to cancer; she was very lucky she didn't die. She won a huge lawsuit against Kaiser.

 

I mention all of this to show that NO SYSTEM IS PERFECT. It's easy to point and say "oh see, THEIRS is horrible and ours is great". Reality? Mistakes are made by ALL insurance/medical care plans/systems.

 

 

Honored Contributor
Posts: 14,930
Registered: ‎03-11-2010

Re: Misdiagnosed and had surgery!!!

Unbelievable this goes on but it does happen. 

The Whistle Blower show on TV had a segment where doctors were intentionally giving patients chemo without cancer?

My nephew was told he probably had cancer before they ran any tests. He had surgery on an infection in his knee. Some how a type of lymphoma cancer was noted in his chart. He never told them that. After he had taken several tests the doctor told him he needed a bone marrow biopsy. When he saw the Oncologist he was told no testing should have been done during the time he had the knee infection or surgery. He was told he does not have cancer??? At least he did not go through treatment.

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Honored Contributor
Posts: 13,399
Registered: ‎07-15-2016

Re: Misdiagnosed and had surgery!!!

There was  a news item just a few days ago - a woman in Utah bled to death because of a major error!

 

According to the lawsuit, a big mistake was made after the surgery.

 

“They didn't clamp or close the tube, and after they re-started her heart all of her blood pumped through the tube into a bag that they had placed in a garbage can,” Nolen said.

 

fox13now dot com/2019/07/19/family-sues-hospital-after-woman-bled-to-death-in-surgery/

 

Honored Contributor
Posts: 12,844
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Misdiagnosed and had surgery!!!

[ Edited ]

@NicksmomESQ wrote:

  Precisely why I don’t run to doctors.They can’t wait to test you into oblivion. I know someone who’s family member was misdiagnosed even with a second opinion.I won’t go into detail but this person was maimed for no reason!! Many lives were affected. The case is in litigation. But no amount of money will ever make up for what that family goes through on a daily basis.


@NicksmomESQ I agree and feel the same way.  Yet every time there is a health related thread here we get posters who are quick to say "ask you doctor"! 

 

I am not running each and every time to my doctor.  Life is a gamble and most of us do the best that we can but all of that testing can often be misdiagnosed.  I can go visit my primary for a sudden pain in my toe but he will not look at me but into his computer the entire time asking if I've had this & that test totally unrelated to the reason that I came in to see him.

 

Just this past April I went to see my oral surgeon about a problem I was having with a tooth that he had worked on.  I was in a lot of pain.  After an xray and some poking around he determined that the tooth next to the one in question had a crack in it and I should have it extracted.....oh and he had time to do it right then and there.  I said I had to think about it.  Went to my dentist several days later after taking a course of antibiotics and he told me that if the tooth were really cracked then it should keep on hurting.  Well  it didn't and I never had the tooth pulled. It's fine now.  I would have been so upset if I had let the oral surgeon pull the tooth unnecessarily!!

 

I read that the third leading cause of death (after cancer  & heart disease) are medical errors.  Very sad about the woman in the article.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 23,835
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: Misdiagnosed and had surgery!!!


@ALRATIBA wrote:

There was  a news item just a few days ago - a woman in Utah bled to death because of a major error!

 

According to the lawsuit, a big mistake was made after the surgery.

 

“They didn't clamp or close the tube, and after they re-started her heart all of her blood pumped through the tube into a bag that they had placed in a garbage can,” Nolen said.

 

fox13now dot com/2019/07/19/family-sues-hospital-after-woman-bled-to-death-in-surgery/

 


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