Women in New York might be concerned about a recent breast biopsy study. Getting a second opinion after a breast biopsy has become more critical since the subject has been studied extensively and the findings show that specialists often misdiagnose them. This is according to a study that was published in an issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association on March 17, which included 240 breast biopsy specimens and 115 U.S. pathologists.
Women in New York might be concerned about a recent breast biopsy study. Getting a second opinion after a breast biopsy has become more critical since the subject has been studied extensively and the findings show that specialists often misdiagnose them. This is according to a study that was published in an issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association on March 17, which included 240 breast biopsy specimens and 115 U.S. pathologists.
Usually, when radiologists find something that looks suspicious on patients’ mammograms, they will order a biopsy. There are approximately 1.6 million biopsies carried out annually in the U.S. A misdiagnosis could lead to under-treatment of some women or treatment that is too aggressive for others in some cases.
According to the lead author of the recent study who is a University of Washington researcher, pathologists are correctly diagnosing abnormal pre-cancerous cells in women only 50 percent of the time approximately. Other findings showed that that they also misdiagnosed tissue as suspicious in 13 percent of breast tissue that was normal. According to the study, up to 160,000 women receive a breast cancer diagnosis each year. Their findings could be implying that a number of them might potentially be undergoing improper treatment for their condition.
When a patient receives improper medical treatment because of a doctor misdiagnosis, there is a possibility of serious illness. A breast cancer misdiagnosis could lead to delayed treatment and death. A malpractice attorney, who has a background in handling failure to diagnose cases, could help the patient or the family of the deceased with filing a malpractice case against the responsible party. If they prevail in the case, the potential compensation could help with resultant medical expenses, loss of work and income and final expenses.
