Grave Errors by Lifesavers

Medical misdiagnosis is a sinister truth, but many people don’t know how to address it. It can be life-threatening unless multiple opinions are sought. However, the recent revelation that Tishaa Kumar (20), the daughter of film producer Krishan Kumar and Tanya Singh, passed away due to a misdiagnosis was shocking. Tishaa died in July 2024. It was earlier reported that Tishaa died after battling cancer. Months after her death, her mother Tanya Singh shared a long note on social media, clarifying that Tishaa did not have cancer but died of “misdiagnosis”. The revelation has come as a shocker to many, who perhaps can relate to it. How does one ensure they are not misdiagnosed?

“Medicine is a vast subject. There are specialities, superspecialities and sub-superspecialities. Despite studying all this for 10–15 years and having practiced for decades, it is not always possible to know everything in your chosen field of medical practice. Medicine is a continuously evolving science. New knowledge and developments keep happening continuously. Many of these may be proven wrong afterwards,” says Dr K. Sudhir Reddy, Consultant Orthopedic, Joint replacement & Arthroscopic Surgeon, Landmark Hospitals.

Wrong Treatment

Health misdiagnosis occurs when a medical condition is incorrectly identified or missed entirely, says Dr. Srikrishna R. Boddu, MBBS, MD (General Medicine), Consultant General Physician, Kamineni Hospital. “This can lead to inappropriate treatments, delayed care and severe consequences for patients. Commonly misdiagnosed conditions include cancer, vascular events (like strokes and heart attacks) and infections,” says Dr. Srikrishna.

Medicine Is Not Like Math

“Sometimes the symptoms, findings, and test results are so atypical that it may be extremely difficult to reach a diagnosis. The body response of different patients for the same disease also varies significantly, just like different people react differently in the same situation. Overall, medicine is not like mathematics. Diagnosis and treatment are like a judgement taken after considering so many factors combined with that doctor’s level of experience, knowledge, skills, and beliefs. Despite best intentions, it is not always possible to give the correct diagnosis,” says Dr. K. Sudhir.

Need Safer Health System

Today, medical degrees can be bought irrespective of your qualifications or pre-graduation marks. “Same is followed even in specialty and superspeciality examinations. This implies that securing a medical seat at Rank 1 is equivalent to securing a seat at rank 10,000,000. Now, with the advent of social media and digital marketing, you can buy customers, reviews, diagnostics, and drugs.

This is the core problem of healthcare. It’s high time we need stringent regulations on healthcare and education; otherwise, we are going to be prey for consumerism, puppets in the hands of capitalistic, ruthless investors,” says Dr Jagadeesh Kumar V, Senior Consultant Physician and Lifestyle Specialist, Kims Hospitals. Dr Jagadeesh explains that in developed countries, all patients must be seen by an internal medicine specialist, as he is an expert in all systems. Only his referrals to other specialists receive consideration.

Diagnostic Errors

Misdiagnosis can happen due to various factors such as atypical presentation of symptoms, lack of thorough patient history, and cognitive biases in clinical decision-making.

Here are some ways to prevent:

Continuity: Keep continuity with one doctor who, by continuity of care, can understand your disease and your body better. Frequently changing specialists may lead to broken care and partial understanding of disease and may lead to misdiagnosis.

Second Opinion: For critical decisions in healthcare, it is worth taking a second or third opinion. Most doctors may be reassured if you take a second opinion. If the same conclusion is supported by another doctor, it gives more confidence in the diagnosis and treatment for both the doctor and the patient. If the second opinion is different from the first, then it may lead to finding the correct diagnosis and rectifying any mistakes.

Choose Wisely: Choose a doctor who can spend time on the case and patient, keep updating themselves with the latest scientific developments, etc.

Treatment & Results: If with treatment the symptoms are not improving or the disease is not progressing as initially explained, you must go over the diagnosis all over again, including a second or third opinion.

At the age of 15 and 1/2, Tishaa received a vaccine that may have triggered an autoimmune condition, leading to an incorrect diagnosis. if your child is experiencing “lymph node swellings,” pls take immediate action. make sure to get a second and third opinion before going in for a “bone marrow” test or a biopsy. lymph nodes can also swell due to emotional trauma. — Kishen Kumar’s wife Tanya