37.8% of Cancer-Related Medical Service Complaints Are 'Misdiagnosis'... Lung Cancer Is the Most Common

Korea Consumer Agency, Analysis Results from 2017 to June 2021

Status of Cancer Misdiagnosis Causes.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] It has been revealed that cases of harm caused by cancer being misdiagnosed as other diseases or not detected during health checkups and medical treatment processes have been steadily reported.

According to the Korea Consumer Agency on the 19th, a total of 347 applications for relief related to cancer medical service damages were received from 2017 until last June. Among them, cancer misdiagnosis cases accounted for 37.8% (131 cases), with 87% (114 cases) being 'cancer diagnosed as not cancer' and 13% (17 cases) being 'non-cancer diagnosed as cancer.'

The types of cancer in misdiagnosis cases were led by lung cancer at 19.1%, followed by stomach cancer (13%), breast cancer (12.2%), and liver cancer (9.2%). Breast cancer was frequently misdiagnosed in women, while lung cancer was common in men. Misdiagnoses occurred in 62.6% of cases during the process of receiving treatment due to abnormal symptoms, 22.1% during health checkups, and 15.3% during additional tests conducted to determine cancer presence after health checkups.

Analyzing 78 cases where hospital responsibility was recognized among the misdiagnosis cases, 39.7% involved failure to perform additional tests necessary for accurate diagnosis, and 30.8% were due to errors in interpreting imaging tests. The damages caused by cancer misdiagnosis mainly included condition deterioration (53.8%) and treatment delays (33.3%).

The Consumer Agency advised that to prevent cancer misdiagnosis cases, patients should request detailed explanations if it is difficult to understand test results, and seek medical consultation again if new symptoms arise or abnormal symptoms persist.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.