Houston Medical Misdiagnosis, Failure to Diagnose, and Failure to Treat Attorney

Commonly Misdiagnosed Conditions and Diseases

Hospitals, clinics, and urgent care centers across Houston frequently misdiagnose, miss, or fail to treat various medical issues. These errors can stem from symptoms resembling other conditions, leading patients to receive care that doesn’t match what’s wrong.

Conditions and diseases commonly misdiagnosed include:

• Cancer—including breast, ovarian, cervical, prostate, and lung cancer, sometimes mistaken for infections or benign growths;
• Fibromyalgia—confused with arthritis or chronic fatigue due to its widespread pain and overlapping symptoms;
• Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS)—mislabeled as depression or fibromyalgia, which delays appropriate care;
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)—misidentified as celiac disease or inflammatory bowel disease (IBD);
• Endometriosis—dismissed as menstrual cramps or digestive issues, delaying diagnosis and treatment;
• Multiple Sclerosis (MS)—misread as fibromyalgia or vitamin deficiency because of shared neurological signs;
• Pulmonary embolism or appendicitis—emergency conditions that may be mistaken for less urgent issues;
• Lyme disease—an infectious illness caused by tick bites that can affect joints, cognition, and nerve function. When test results are inconclusive, it may be mistaken for CFS or fibromyalgia;
• Lupus—an autoimmune disease with symptoms like joint pain, rash, and fatigue, commonly misdiagnosed as rheumatoid arthritis or fibromyalgia;
• Parkinson’s disease—a progressive neurological disorder sometimes confused with essential tremor or age-related movement changes;
• Migraines—misdiagnosed as sinus or tension headaches, especially when symptoms include nausea or visual disturbances; and
• Celiac disease—an autoimmune reaction to gluten that mimics IBS and other digestive conditions, with diagnosis frequently delayed for years.

Rare illnesses are sometimes called “zebra” diagnoses, referring to a phrase taught in medical school: “When you hear hoofbeats, think horses—not zebras.” The idea is to assume common conditions are more likely than rare ones. That mindset can lead to missed or incorrect diagnoses of diseases like lupus or Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, especially when symptoms don’t follow textbook patterns.

What Are the Statistics on Medical Misdiagnosis Fatalities?

Medical misdiagnosis remains one of the most underreported threats to patient safety in the United States. In Houston and across the country, people seek help for symptoms that turn out to be far more serious than originally diagnosed—or never diagnosed at all.

A major study by researchers at Johns Hopkins University, funded by the Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine, analyzed over 55,000 malpractice claims. The findings reveal how common and dangerous diagnostic errors can be:

• Nearly three-quarters of serious misdiagnosis-related harm falls into just three categories—cancer (37.8%), vascular events like stroke or aneurysm (22.8%), and infections such as sepsis or pneumonia (13.5%);
• Roughly 12 million people in the U.S. are affected by diagnostic errors each year—many of whom experience missed or delayed treatment;
• Between 40,000 and 80,000 deaths occur annually due to complications from misdiagnosis—a range that reflects both hospital and outpatient data;
• One in three misdiagnoses leads to serious harm or death—including permanent injury, organ failure, or loss of life; and
• Women and people of color face a 20% to 30% higher risk of being misdiagnosed—underscoring long-standing disparities in access to accurate care.

If you are injured by diagnostic failures, you are not just a statistic to the medical misdiagnosis attorneys at Pierce Skrabanek. Contact a Houston failure to diagnose attorney for fierce advocacy in seeking the resources you need for proper treatment and recovery.

“I’ve sat across from patients who knew something was wrong—but kept getting sent home. They weren’t asking for anything complicated. They just wanted a doctor to listen. When that trust is broken, and someone ends up with an injury that could’ve been avoided, we step in to make sure it’s taken seriously.”

— Michael Pierce | Founding Partner at Pierce Skrabanek

What Could a Medical Misdiagnosis Lawsuit Do for You?

A lawsuit may offer a way to hold providers accountable when a diagnostic error causes harm. Patients in Houston file claims to recover losses and address the serious effects of delayed or incorrect care.

To support a medical misdiagnosis claim, a Houston misdiagnosis lawyer works to prove four core elements:

• The provider owed a legal duty to the patient;
• That duty was breached through a missed or incorrect diagnosis;
• The breach directly caused the injury; and
• That injury resulted in measurable harm.

In qualifying cases, a lawsuit may lead to compensation for:

• Medical costs,
• Lost income,
• Physical pain and emotional distress, and
• Wrongful death if a loved one died due to a provider’s failure to diagnose or treat a life-threatening condition.

Legal action can also prompt change. A lawsuit may expose systemic failures, lead to updated protocols, or hold individual providers accountable for dangerous conduct. A Houston medical attorney can assess whether the facts of your case meet the standard for a medical malpractice claim under Texas law.

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