It might be critically important to ask if my diagnosis is right or is it misdiagnosis. Roughly 5 percent of adults who seek outpatient care, or approximately 12 million people, are misdiagnosed every year. What is more, about 20 percent of people with serious conditions are misdiagnosed initially.
When these failures in diagnosis cause serious harm or death to a patient, the doctor could be accused of negligence or medical malpractice. Often, a misdiagnosis, failure to diagnose or delayed diagnosis will have serious consequences for the patient. Of a range of possible damages to the patient the most common are delayed treatment, no treatment, or inappropriate (and possibly harmful) treatment.