When Illinois residents hear the word misdiagnosis, many likely think of cases in which a doctor fails to detect that a patient has cancer or some other life-threatening illness. While there are certainly patients impacted by this type of misdiagnosis, there are others who are lead to wrongly believe they have a disease or illness what in fact they do not.
A married couple recently filed a lawsuit against a health care provider related to such a misdiagnosis. The medical error occurred while the man was being held in a county jail. At that time he was forced to submit to a blood test which was analyzed by medical personnel contracted through the jail.
The man was then informed he had the sexually transmitted disease syphilis. He was required to call his wife and inform her of his positive test and both were forced to undergo treatment for the potentially deadly STD. While undergoing treatment, the man’s wife experienced an adverse reaction to the medication which resulted in her suffering physical pain.
Subsequently, the man and his wife were informed that there had been an error with his test results and he never had syphilis. The couple recently filed a lawsuit against the health care provider, related to the physical and emotional pain and suffering caused by the misdiagnosis.
Medical mistakes related to misdiagnosis can occur when a doctor fails to read or properly read a test result or a test isn’t conducted properly. In these types of cases, patients and family members are often negatively impacted physically, mentally and emotionally. Individuals adversely impacted by a misdiagnosis may choose to take legal action.
Source: AL.com, “Trial set to open in couple’s lawsuit over jail’s incorrect STD diagnosis, ordered treatment,” Brian Lawson, Nov. 18, 2013
