7 Most Common Mistakes Committed Even By Good Doctors

Updated on July 26, 2020

Modern medicine has introduced a lot of revolutionary innovations that have made the treatment of various medical conditions incredibly convenient. But, the number of diseases and hence patients have also surged proportionately that has put immense pressure on the doctors even though a few of them are earning a ludicrous amount of money. 

As a result, doctors have been committing more mistakes than even and you cannot rely on them blindly for the diagnosis and cure. We have listed here seven most common mistakes committed even by good doctors, so that you stay on your toes the next time you visit a hospital.

1.     Misdiagnosis:

Misdiagnosis is understandable in case of complicated diseases as conflicting symptoms may appear, but the fact that it is happening even for common medical conditions like heart failure, renal failure, pneumonia and urinary tract infections. It is reported that 15 percent of the initial diagnoses are wrong and must be revised.

If you have to suffer due to a misdiagnosis, immediately hire a competent lawyer like a medical malpractice attorney to request a free consultation in order to file a lawsuit. You can also find some other tips about the right course of action if your doctor ends up misdiagnosing your medical condition.

2.     Wrong Medication:

It is another common mistake that a lot of doctors are guilty of making as they end up prescribing the wrong combination of medicines or the wrong dosage of the drugs. Therefore, make sure that your doctor is a competent one and is well aware of the potential interactions between prescribed drugs. Now that you have google at your disposal, you can simply google the prescribed medicines to double check their accuracy and relevance.

3.     Wrong-site surgery:

It may sound ridiculous, but happens often enough as there has been many instances in which insurance companies refused to cover the expenses of such surgeries, and patients filed suits against the hospital administration. Therefore, make sure that your surgeon is completely aware of the body part due for surgery, and one of the ways is to ask your doctor to mark the body part beforehand so that there is no confusion.

4.     Mixing up patients:

It is another mistake that may sound incredibly absurd, but enough lawsuits have been filed to know that doctors mix up patients especially when they have the same name and age. Therefore, ask your doctor questions about all the courses of action for your treatment, and if someone comes to take you to a procedure, do not go with them if you are not informed beforehand.

5.      Lack of coordination:

If you are suffering from a complicated medical condition which requires you to consult various doctors within the same hospital, it is paramount that all of them are on the same page. But, it happens pretty often that the multiple doctors fail to provide coordinated care, and as a result, the patient ends up being over-tested and over-medicated.

6.     Injection of air bubbles:

In chronic respiratory conditions, doctors have to dig a hole to insert a breathing tube in a patient’s chest to get him to breathe. But, while the tube is removed, some doctors fail to close the hole in the chest properly which leads to air bubbles being sucked into various organs of the body. Such carelessness can cause significant damage, therefore, always ask your doctors questions to keep them on their toes, like how to position yourself while the tube is being removed.

In a nutshell, doctors are not Gods and they must not be treated as much, because they can make mistakes like any mortal man; therefore, you must always ask questions from your doctor to keep yourself safe from the stupid mistakes mentioned above.

The Editorial Team at Healthcare Business Today is made up of skilled healthcare writers and experts, led by our managing editor, Daniel Casciato, who has over 25 years of experience in healthcare writing. Since 1998, we have produced compelling and informative content for numerous publications, establishing ourselves as a trusted resource for health and wellness information. We offer readers access to fresh health, medicine, science, and technology developments and the latest in patient news, emphasizing how these developments affect our lives.