Too Common for Comfort

In April of 2014, CBS News published an article that stated that every year in the United States, twelve million people are misdiagnosed. The physician being interviewed, Dr. John LaPook explains that many of these misdiagnoses have to do with the conversations between doctors and patients. Meanwhile, another study from Johns Hopkins University also estimates that 12 million in the US get an incorrect diagnosis each year from their primary care doctors alone, with about 33 percent of those wrongly diagnosed (about four million) dying or suffering permanent harm from the mistake.

People in marginalized groups (women, minority groups) are often more likely to experience negligent medical care or to be misdiagnosed due to unconscious biases and other factors.

Therefore, it is vitally important that we learn to advocate for ourselves in the presence of medical professionals.

You are the only person who truly knows your body, the way you feel, and what you ‘normal’ is.