A medical study has shown that the majority of people who believe that they have a penicillin allergy, in fact, do not. When wrongly labeled with this allergy, people in New York and elsewhere have their infections treated with alternative antibiotics that tend to be less effective and cost more. The unnecessary use of alternative antibiotics also increases opportunities for bacteria to develop a resistance to strong antibiotics.

It is estimated that less than 2 percent of potential cancer patients in New York and across the U.S. receive incorrect test results from a hospital pathology lab. While this number is relatively low, the consequences of such mistakes can be devastating for the patients involved.

While there are several forms of cancer that begin in the small intestine, one form called adenocarcinoma is particularly hard to diagnose correctly. Residents of New York who share the following symptoms may want to see their doctor or get a second opinion, as the case may be, so that they do not incur further harm through a delayed diagnosis.

Cancer is a word that invokes fear in people across all ethnic and economic areas, but persons in New York who fall within lower-income parameters may have a higher risk of complications and death due to colorectal cancer. While a person’s socioeconomic status may not be directly to blame for the trend, certain factors have been identified that correlate between lower incomes and higher incidences of advanced cancers of the colon.

For many patients in New York, misdiagnosis can be a major concern. When a person has a progressive disease that is not caught in time, the consequences can be severe and even deadly. Therefore, cutting down on diagnostic errors is a major priority for health institutions, insurers and doctors.