Covington Personal Injury Law Blog

When it comes to the optic health of Kentucky residents, proper diagnosis of optic neuritis is a major issue. Optic neuritis, which is the inflammation of the optic nerve, can lead to pain and temporary vision loss in one or both eyes. But while optic neuritis remains a serious health issue, a new study suggests that over half of those diagnosed with the condition may have been misdiagnosed.

In a study conducted by an American university of medical records collected between 2014 and 2016, researchers discovered a surprisingly high rate of misdiagnosis related to optic neuritis. Of the 122 patients studied, only 49 were correctly diagnosed with optic neuritis. The remaining 73 patients who were originally diagnosed with optic neuritis were actually suffering from something else.

Patients in Kentucky may be worried about the growing number of deaths linked to medical errors across the country. While access to healthcare and financing are considered major political issues, the ongoing crisis of preventable yet deadly medical mistakes has received little public attention. In 2000, the Institute of Medicine reported that over 100,000 Americans lost their lives each year due to medical mistakes. While healthcare technology has improved in the intervening years, these statistics have not.

Instead, they have become even more troubling. In 2016, preventable patient deaths were estimated at over 250,000 annually. Every year, at least 12 million patients suffer due to diagnostic errors, and 4 million of those suffer serious harm as a result. Nurses expressed their concerns in one survey; 35 percent said their places of work had poor records for patient safety. Some of the most persistent problems were medication errors; patients could receive incorrect prescriptions, or incorrect dosages could be provided by pharmacists or hospital staff. In one study of severely ill people, one-fourth of patients reported some kind of serious medical mistake.

Some Kentucky residents might have heard that a doctor in Florida was sued after removing a kidney from a woman who went in for another type of surgery. The woman was supposed to have bones fused in her lower back.

One of the surgeons mistook her kidney for a tumor and removed it. The lawsuit argued that the woman had no say in the matter. Her two primary surgeons settled for $250,000 each. There was also an undisclosed settlement with the surgeon who made the error although he admitted no wrongdoing. While the primary surgeons had malpractice insurance, the one who made the error did not.

There are many skilled and diligent surgeons in Kentucky. When you suffer from a health condition that necessitates surgery, it can be a bit distressing to have to entrust your well-being to a surgeon and other medical team members. Your goal, of course, is to treat whatever adverse condition you have and to ultimately achieve a full recovery.  

The problem is that surgeons and medical staff members are human beings who are capable of committing errors. Beyond that, they are also capable of direct negligence, which, in a surgical setting, can have disastrous, if not fatal results. Before you undergo an operation, you'll want to learn as much about surgical errors as possible and know where to seek support if a problem arises.