Effort to Decrease Misdiagnosis Launched

-Barriers to accurate diagnosis still present, group says

WASHINGTON -- Misdiagnosis is still a big problem, and more awareness of the issue is needed, several experts said Thursday.

"Every 9 minutes, someone in a U.S. hospital dies due to a medical diagnosis that was wrong or delayed," Paul Epner, MD, said at an event here sponsored by the Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine (SIDM). "It's estimated each year between 40,000 and 80,000 deaths can be attributed to inaccurate or delayed diagnosis."