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One in five diagnoses could be wrong: agency

Ann Törnkvist
Ann Törnkvist - [email protected]
One in five diagnoses could be wrong: agency
An operation underway at Saint Olav's hospital in Trondheim. File: Gorm Kallestad/Scanpix

The Norwegian Medicines Agency has warned that as many as 20 percent of medical diagnoses could be incorrect, putting patients' health and well-being at risk.

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"The risk of misdiagnosis is probably the biggest in emergencies," Steinar Madsen at Statens Legemiddelverk told the Verdens Gang newspaper. 

"It's when doctors have to figure out what is wrong with the patient in a very short time frame." 

Madsen referred to international studies that have found that misdiagnosis occurs in as much as 20 to 30 percent of cases. 

"It is important to think about the fact that medicines are complicated," said Madsen, adding that patients and doctors needed to become better at communicating with each other. 

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