When you go to the hospital or see a specialist, you do so because you trust them to get to the bottom of what is going on with your body. While no doctor is going to be right one hundred percent of the time, we are learning that there are some areas in which they are making more mistakes than they should.
Researchers from Columbia University Medical Center have discovered that many patients may experience an initial diagnosis of “acute kidney injury” that is inaccurate. They have used patient records to find that the current methods used for assessing kidney function may be misleading during initial patient evaluations.
At Kurzban, Kurzban, Tetzeli and Pratt, P.A. – recovery law center in Hawaii, we know that there are many factors that go into diagnosing patients, but that there are also times when a missed diagnosis leads to major health problems. If you need a Hawaii organ failure attorney, you can call us today.
Just One Kind Of Problem
Researchers from Harvard and the University of Washington say that the blood test that is traditionally used to detect acute kidney failure only give a small photo of what is really going on with a person’s kidneys and there are other factors that should be taken into consideration. The article above states that “Each year, an estimated 5-7 percent of patients admitted to hospitals in the US and 30-50 percent of patients in critical or intensive care settings, are diagnosed with acute kidney injury.”
While many healthcare providers jump to a complete diagnosis based off of initial blood test numbers, the researchers say that it really takes days to understand what is going on. In a busy ER, where most doctors are overworked and in a hurry, doctors are relying on those blood tests too much for an accurate diagnosis, something that can lead to long-term problems for the patients.
There Are Others
When one organ in a person’s body fails, there is often a cascading effect of other organs failing. This can be exasperated by healthcare-acquired infections, something that is often the result of careless provider practices.
The CDC tells us that one in three patients who die in the hospital have sepsis at the time of their death. Sepsis and organ failure are often linked together as the actual cause of death, as they contribute to one another.
Moving Forward From Here
If you or someone you love has experienced organ failure and you believe it was due to the carelessness or negligence of a healthcare professional, you can turn to Kurzban, Kurzban, Tetzeli and Pratt for help. Our knowledgeable and experienced team will work to investigate your case so we can get to the bottom of what happened. You deserve compensation for your medical bills, lost income if you cannot work, pain and suffering damages, as well as punitive damages. When you need an organ failure attorney in Hawaii, you can contact us for a free consultation by clicking here or calling 808-736-5035.