"DIAGNOSIS is the
weak link in Medicine"
Autopsies reveal that approximately 40% of diagnoses are incorrect. In two-thirds of those cases, medical help could have been provided had the diagnosis been correct.
(The above information was excerpted from the Journal of the American Medical Association article entitled Low Tech Autopsies in the Era of High Tech Medicine written by then-editor George D. Lundberg, MD., Oct. 14, 1998, - Vol 280, No. 14)
In Need Of Diagnosis, Inc. (INOD) advocates for changes in the medical system that will increase the accuracy and timeliness of diagnosis. It is a resource center for people who suffer with illnesses that elude diagnosis.
The cost of treating illnesses in the advance stage is expensive and sometimes nonproductive. Early diagnosis prevents unnecessary deaths and unneeded treatments. Yet the College of American Pathologists (CAP) estimates that only 3% of medical dollars are spent on diagnosis.
The leading cancer killer of both men and women is lung cancer. Six of ten people diagnosed die within a year. Between seven and eight die with two years. Yet of those 15% of the patients who are diagnosed and treated when cancer is in Stage 1, there is a 92% rate of survival. It is not that the technology for early screening is not available. It is rather that it is not done.
Parkinson's Diseases was identified In 1838 by James Parkinson, M.D.. Now, more than 180 years later there are still no laboratory tests or scans for diagnosing Parkinsons.
Those with one of the 7,000 rare disorders go an average of seven years before being diagnosed. Many die without being diagnosed. There are no physicians board certified in 'Diagnosis'. There is no physician whose job it is to take the reports from all the medical specialists and put the pieces of a complex medical puzzle together.
The primary care physicians (PCP) who refer patients with complex disorders to specialists receive reports as to what the problem isn't, i.e. it isn't orthopedic, it isn't gastrointestinal, etc. but often there is no input as to what it might be. A single out-of-range test result found by one specialist may not be significant but when combined with out-of-range test results run by other specialists may reveal a picture when viewed by a master diagnostician.
Though the United States economy is characterized as a free market system, this is not the case with the medical system. The patient has little say regarding the type of services made available. This needs to change. The patient must become a knowledgeable consumer of medical services. Collectively they can make positive changes. The public needs to make their interest in the matter of more timely and accurate diagnosis known. Only then will they be able to influence how public health dollars are spent.
WELCOME If you are in need of diagnosis, please enter the information requested when clicking "Need Help?" on the upper left side of this page.
Please Read The Following INOD Articles
CONTACT INFORMATION:
In Need Of Diagnosis, Inc. (INOD)
Marianne Genetti, Executive Director
PO Box 536456, Orlando, FL 32853-6456
Phone: (407) or (888) 894-9190, Fax: (407) 898-4234
Email: INOD@INOD.org, Web: www.INOD.org