Misread mammograms have become a leading cause of malpractice claims nationwide, sending insurance costs soaring.
While diagnostic errors are a leading cause of malpractice litigation, the vast majority do not result in legal action.
Also, because missed breast cancers are the leading cause of malpractice suits in America, the medical profession will have a powerful reason to embrace the technology.
According to a 2013 study conducted by Johns Hopkins University, misdiagnosis is also the number-one cause of malpractice lawsuits and subsequent payouts.
The most common cause of malpractice is that stated guidelines for fetal surveillance are not followed.
More frequent consultations and increased diagnostic testing could in theory reduce diagnostic errors, which are the leading cause of malpractice claims.
In the United States, physician delay is the most common cause of malpractice (Kern, 1994; Physician Insurers Association of America, 2003), often involving the inappropriate reassurance that a palpable mass is benign without having performed biopsy (Goodson and Moore, 2002).
Diagnostic errors lead to more deaths than any other medical error type [ 7], and this can have major legal repercussions: diagnostic errors are the leading cause of malpractice claims in the United States [ 8].
