How to Double Check Your Diagnosis

We have all heard the horrible stories from friends, family members, and even celebrities about being misdiagnosed with a serious medical condition. The latest public figure to join this group of unfortunate people is Suzanne Somers, who announced on the “Early Show” that she had been led to believe she had inoperable cancer for six days before discovering the truth. Somers told the interviewer on the “Early Show" that “For six days, six doctors confirmed I had inoperable cancer. I went into that valley of fear. I saw my death; it was horrible.”

While Somers is not alone in this horrific situation, it is important not to get caught up in the drama that surrounds a celebrity going public with being misdiagnosed. It is easy for people to make the jump to: “if it can happen to a star, then it can happen to me.” While there is a certain amount of truth to that statement, it would be wrong to assume that every diagnosis, serious or not, is a potential medical nightmare waiting to happen. The number of actual medical conditions being misdiagnosed varies greatly and depends on so many variables that it is virtually impossible to determine. The variables that muddy the waters include: the medical diagnosis itself, the clinician, the level of experience of the clinician and many occult or hidden medical problems that patients either do know they have or neglect to share with their provider.

While medical mistakes do happen--one of the best safeguards against them affecting you--is YOU! In this article I will outline steps for preventing incorrect medical diagnoses from happening to you.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• A full understanding of what your “working” diagnosis is according to your healthcare provider
• A therapeutic relationship with your healthcare provider

1. Make sure you understand what your provider is telling you about your health. If the name of the diagnosis seems strange or is one you never heard of, have the provider write it down on a piece of paper. Better yet, insist that you and your provider find a comprehensive Internet site on your condition to make sure everyone is on the same page.

2. Ask what tests are necessary to confirm the proposed diagnosis and who performs the tests. Write the names of these tests down and do your homework!

3. Ask who interprets these tests. Does your general primary care provider have the knowledge, skill and training to interpret the tests, or do the results need to be reviewed by a specialist?

4. If a specialist is needed, it is highly likely that you are also going to need a specialist's care. Bring this up with your primary care provider and discuss whether additional care is needed.

5. Look up your primary care provider (or any provider for that matter) on their licensing board website. Virtually, all states maintain a public accessible site to see if there are (or were) any pending actions concerning the provider in question. See if there have been any credible complaints, actions or other concerns issued against your provider. It is important to remember you are looking for CREDIBLE complaints; nearly anyone with an "ax to grind” can submit a complaint against a provider that could be utterly baseless.

6. Get, don’t ask, for a second opinion before beginning any therapy or accepting a diagnosis you may feel uncomfortable with--remember, it is your body and your health.

7. Beware of “cure-alls." There are very few conditions that can be totally cured by one product, medicine or natural intervention.

Tips & Warnings

• There is no such thing as a "miracle cure." If a clinician tells you he or she has one, run like hell the other way!
• You are in control of your health and life. Do not become subservient to your medical provider. Both you and your provider should be partners in your health care.
• This article is for informational purposes only. Only a licensed healthcare provider can diagnose and treat any medical condition.

Resources

• New York Times Article: Why Doctors So Often Get It Wrong
• The Ramifications Of Medical Misdiagnosis

[jenng]

on 11/14/2009 great article on How to Double Check Your Diagnosis 5*

[dannthamann]

on 11/13/2009 This is especially true for mental health diagnosis.

[diggitydogg]

on 11/13/2009 Very informative and well-written article. Thanks for stressing how important it is to be proactive with your health, something that so many of us take for granted.

[DiscountTickets]

on 11/13/2009 Such important information you've got here about Double Checking Your Diagnosis.

[Fike]

on 11/13/2009 I think your article would be stronger if you actually gave specific sites that could be used as a starting point to gathering concrete information. I'm not a dispassionate observer; I'm one of those who has been diagnosed with a disease for which there not only is no cure, but there isn't even a name for it (yet). One thing this certainly does is what we would all be better off doing: treating each day as potentially your last. Because, of course, that is the reality, which most people obviate as frequently as possible through a whole hosts of psychological strategies. http://www.larryfike.com