Women have complicated reproductive systems with the potential for a variety of health conditions. Unfortunately, healthcare and science have not focused much attention on the female reproductive system. As a result, women often suffer pain, bleeding, discomfort, and other symptoms because doctors do not have the knowledge or skills required to be able to effectively treat them. Many times, women are told their symptoms are “unexplained,” indicating that there is no known cause and suggesting that the woman should just accept that her symptoms exist and may never go away. When gynecological issues are misdiagnosed, a diagnosis is delayed, or the condition is inadequately or improperly treated, you may not be forced to simply accept it. You may be able to file a claim against the doctors or healthcare system that failed you. Call Erin Marshall Law at (505)218-9949 to schedule a consultation with a New Mexico medical malpractice attorney and learn more about your legal options.
What Are Some Common Gynecological Issues That Are Misdiagnosed or Inadequately Treated?
There are many gynecological issues that women can be diagnosed and treated for. However, there are four that are more commonly misdiagnosed or a diagnosis is delayed. When a diagnosis is made, these conditions may be treated inadequately or improperly. This can have severe negative impacts on women’s health, however.
Endometriosis
Endometriosis is a condition in which tissue similar to endometrial tissue, or the lining of the uterus, grows in other parts of the body. There are many potential causes for this, but one of the most common causes is retrograde menstruation. Retrograde menstruation occurs when some tissue sloughs off during an individual’s period and backs up into their fallopian tubes, then into the pelvis.
Symptoms of endometriosis include heavy bleeding during menstruation, lower back pain, pelvic pain, spotting between periods, pain during sex, feelings of fullness or heaviness in the pelvic region, and extremely painful menstrual cramps. The World Health Organization indicates that some individuals do not have any symptoms.
Uterine Fibroids
Uterine fibroids are benign tumors growing inside or outside the uterus. These fibroids are affected by the levels of estrogen and progesterone, genetics, and other factors. Uterine fibroids can range from a seed to a softball in size.
Symptoms can include pain, cramping, and heavy bleeding during menstruation. Not all individuals experience symptoms.
Ovarian Cysts
Ovarian cysts are fluid-filled sacs that form on one or both ovaries. Cysts can be benign (harmless) or malignant (cancerous). Ovarian cysts can occur on their own or they can be a symptom of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).
There are often no symptoms of ovarian cysts unless they are abnormally large or they rupture. If an individual does experience symptoms, they often include pelvic pain and abnormal bleeding.
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome
Polycystic ovary syndrome is a hormonal imbalance in which women have extremely high levels of the male hormone androgen, as well as high insulin levels. This leads to irregular periods and ovarian cysts, as well as problems with fertility and a host of other health problems, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and high cholesterol.
Symptoms of PCOS can include excess hair growth, obesity, acne, skin darkening, or skin tags. There may also be no symptoms or symptoms so mild that they go unnoticed until the individual has difficulty getting pregnant or a cyst ruptures.
Why Are These Conditions Frequently Misdiagnosed or Treated Inadequately?
Unfortunately, there is not a single, clear answer to why these gynecological issues are frequently misdiagnosed or inadequately treated. There are multiple possibilities and it is possible that a combination of these factors contribute to varying degrees.
Doctor Shortages
The Association of American Medical Colleges reported that in 2017, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists indicated that half of United States counties do not have an obstetrician-gynecologist (OB-GYN). The shortage was expected to increase by another 8,000 doctors in 2020. These counties are home to more than 10 million women who would require their assistance for not only pregnancy and regular women’s health exams but to be diagnosed and treated for these gynecological issues. This means these women must travel farther in order to find the care they need, and this can be inconvenient.
Without convenient access to care, many individuals opt not to seek care at all, even when they know they are in need of it. The National Library of Medicine reviewed 61 studies that were done on transportation and travel distance for medical care. The results indicated that for 55% of African Americans and 60% of Hispanics, poor vehicle access could prevent them from seeking care. Relying on public transit or friends or relatives for rides can result in missed appointments. Additionally, when an individual has to travel farther for care, finding a ride can be more difficult due to the distance.
Overlapping Symptoms
Another reason that women may not get diagnosed or may get inadequate treatment is the overlapping symptoms between different conditions. For example, endometriosis, uterine fibroids, ovarian cysts, and PCOS all have pain as a symptom. Endometriosis, fibroids, and cysts all have heavy or abnormal bleeding as a symptom. When the individual is experiencing only the overlapping symptoms, they may be misdiagnosed if further imaging or testing is not done. If the individual is seeing one of the few OB-GYNs in their area, the OB-GYN may be overbooked, rush the appointment, and not do the further imaging and testing required. This can also lead to inadequate treatment because they are treating for the wrong condition.
No or Mild Symptoms
Another reason someone may be misdiagnosed, or not diagnosed at all, is that they have no symptoms or mild symptoms. If there are no symptoms, the individual may not realize there is a problem. If they do not realize there is a problem, they will not seek out medical treatment. This means they may not be diagnosed unless they have a routine pelvic exam, which may not happen if they live in one of the areas that have an OB-GYN shortage.
Mild symptoms may also be ignored. If the symptoms do not interfere with the individual’s daily life and can be managed with over-the-counter treatments such as ibuprofen or a heating pad, they may brush it off as simply being a normal part of menstruation or being a woman in general. This will again lead to the individual not being diagnosed until a routine pelvic exam or a worsening of symptoms.
Hormonal Changes
Hormonal changes, including pregnancy, play a role in causing and easing symptoms of various gynecological issues. Women’s hormones fluctuate throughout the month. Hormonal imbalances can be caused by stress, lifestyle, and environmental factors. Hormonal changes and imbalances may impact the way symptoms present. This can lead to circumstances such as a woman having pregnancy complications and believing her symptoms are related to those complications, rather than having them checked out by a doctor, for example.
Additionally, if the individual chooses to make changes for other reasons, such as changing her lifestyle to lose weight or stops or starts birth control, symptoms may decrease as a result without her making the connection. This can also lead to a belief that the condition is improving and thus, she believes she does not need to seek medical care.
Wait-and-See Approach by Doctors
Particularly common when a woman has ovarian cysts, OB-GYNs will often take a wait-and-see approach to treatment. Because ovarian cysts often resolve on their own, the wait-and-see approach may be fine if the woman does in fact have ovarian cysts. However, as these cysts can be an indication of PCOS, further examination to ensure the cysts are unrelated to PCOS.
The wait-and-see approach can lead to a delay in treatment, which may also lead to inadequate treatment. Additionally, though only a small percentage of cysts are malignant, the wait-and-see approach has the potential to be fatal, as ovarian cancer is often diagnosed in the late stages, per the National Library of Medicine. If you had a doctor take a wait-and-see approach to your ovarian cysts, and it turned out to be cancer, a medical malpractice attorney at Erin Marshall Law may be able to assist you in filing a claim.
Masquerading Symptoms
Another potential reason these gynecological issues are misdiagnosed or inadequately treated is that the symptoms can masquerade as other conditions. Appendicitis, bowel obstructions, diverticulitis, ectopic pregnancies, inflammatory bowel disease, ovarian cancer, pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), and STDs are just some of the conditions that share symptoms with endometriosis, uterine fibroids, and ovarian cysts. If a woman seeks treatment in an emergency room or urgent care facility, she may be misdiagnosed with one of these other conditions, offered treatment for that condition, and sent on her way. This can lead her to believe that she has been treated or “cured,” and to not seek out further treatment, even though her symptoms may not have resolved or have worsened.
Problems That Can Arise From Misdiagnosis, Delayed Diagnosis, or Inadequate Treatment
Misdiagnoses, delayed diagnoses, and inadequate treatments do not just delay appropriate treatment of gynecological issues like endometriosis, uterine fibroids, and ovarian cysts. They can also create other, more significant health concerns for the individual who is not getting a proper diagnosis and treatment.
Localized Infections
When endometriosis, uterine fibroids, or ovarian cysts are untreated or inadequately treated, they can lead to a variety of infections. These infections are often treatable, but if the individual has been unwilling or unable to seek treatment for the initial issue, they may not seek treatment for the infection until it worsens. If the individual has sought treatment, and has been misdiagnosed and thus, inadequately treated, they may be wary of seeking more medical treatment, which can also lead to waiting to seek treatment until the infection worsens. Waiting until the infection worsens can lead to permanent damage to the body, depending on the type of infection and its location in the body.
Temporary or Permanent Infertility
Endometriosis, uterine fibroids, ovarian cysts, and PCOS can all cause temporary infertility. Each of these conditions can make it difficult for a woman to get pregnant if the condition is not treated. In many cases, once these gynecological issues have been treated, fertility is restored.
However, the longer these issues go untreated or inadequately treated, the higher the risk that the infertility could become permanent. There may come a point at which the condition is so advanced that even after treatment, the individual remains infertile, which is why it is so important to seek treatment sooner rather than later.
Malignant Cysts Worsen
Specific to ovarian cysts is the possibility of cancer worsening. Cedars-Sinai indicates that five to ten percent of women undergo cyst removal and of those, only 13% to 21% are cancerous. This means that there is a very low chance of an ovarian cyst being malignant.
However, in those extremely rare cases, lack of treatment can lead to the cancer worsening. When cancer is diagnosed in its later stages, it is much harder to fight. This is why the wait-and-see approach can be appropriate in some circumstances, but can also be a fatal mistake in others.
Undiagnosed Depression, Anxiety, or Self-Directed Violence
The National Library of Medicine reports that women who have been diagnosed with uterine fibroids often also have depression, anxiety, and self-directed violence. With this information, it is likely that women who have uterine fibroids but have not been diagnosed may also have depression, anxiety, and self-directed violence. However, they may not realize that they are suffering from these additional conditions, or due to the lack of diagnosis, may not connect their depression or anxiety to having uterine fibroids.
Untreated depression and anxiety can be debilitating. Self-directed violence can include both non-fatal and fatal acts. An individual dealing with any of these and not knowing that it may be related to undiagnosed uterine fibroids could find themselves struggling even more, especially if they are not seeking treatment for their mental or gynecological health.
The Financial Impact of Delayed and Misdiagnoses
In addition to the impacts on an individual’s health, delays and misdiagnoses also have a financial impact. A National Library of Medicine study found that women spent more on all-cause healthcare pre-diagnosis of these gynecological issues and that the longer the delay before diagnosis, the more the women spent. A short delay resulted in an additional approximately $21,000, while an intermediate delay caused approximately $30,000 in additional healthcare spending. Long delays resulted in approximately $34,000 in additional healthcare costs.
Those additional expenses were often related to emergency room visits and inpatient hospitalizations. This means that in addition to the extra healthcare expenses, these individuals probably also saw lost wages as they took time off work to go to the emergency room or while they were hospitalized. In some cases, these individuals may have even lost their jobs as a result of too much time lost at work. Pain, abnormal bleeding, and other symptoms may have also led to individuals missing out on events and activities they had already paid for, such as concerts, athletic activities, and vacations. All of these expenses can add up to thousands, or even tens of thousands, of lost dollars for just one individual.
How Can a New Mexico Medical Malpractice Attorney Assist You?
While there are many reasons a woman might be misdiagnosed or inadequately treated for gynecological issues, in some cases, it comes down to negligence by the medical provider. Failing to listen closely, not performing a thorough examination with imaging and testing as needed, or brushing off a woman’s symptoms may all lead to a claim against the healthcare provider. A medical malpractice attorney may be able to review the details of your healthcare, determine whether the provider was negligent, gather evidence to support your claim and negotiate to get you the compensation you deserve. Call Erin Marshall Law at (505)218-9949 to schedule a consultation with a New Mexico medical malpractice attorney and learn more about your legal options after a misdiagnosis or inadequate treatment.
