Medical malpractice in Texas occurs when a doctor or other person in the medical field causes injury to a patient. The mistakes are commonly a result of negligence or unintentional errors. Many medical practice cases involve misdiagnoses of certain conditions. Lewy body dementia is a common disease that often gets misdiagnosed.
What is Lewy body dementia?
More than 1.4 million Americans have been diagnosed with Lewy body dementia. It causes Lewy bodies, which are protein deposits, to accumulate in the brain.
While doctors don’t know how the proteins form, they have been associated with reducing the number of neurotransmitters. Lewy’s body dementia currently cannot be cured, and there is no certain type of patient. However, it causes some common symptoms, such as balance problems, mood swings, hallucinations, trouble sleeping at night and cognitive changes.
Why does Lewy body dementia get misdiagnosed?
Lewy body dementia doesn’t have a single diagnostic test, so clinics depend on evaluations. The doctor may issue blood tests to check for a vitamin deficiency, test a person’s reflexes and conduct brain scans, but that still doesn’t indicate the presence of the disease. A typical patient has not been identified, but Lewy’s body dementia tends to appear more in men and people over 60.
The symptoms of Lewy body dementia often appear similar to other conditions, such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s. In addition to similar symptoms and lack of conclusive testing, many doctors may not know about the disease, which makes a misdiagnosis possible. It isn’t unusual for patients to go 18 months without an accurate diagnosis.
Instances of medical malpractice often occur unintentionally, but they can cause lost wages and further harm. In these cases, people should seek legal assistance to determine if their doctors made a misdiagnosis.
