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Kelly Kovacs

Professor Ferrara

English Comp 0910

08 December 2023

Patient Justice in The Healthcare System

While some illnesses lack enough science and research to diagnose right away, patients

with chronic illness should not struggle for years to receive proper treatment because it can take

a toll on their mental health, it can affect the patients daily life, and it is financially expensive

with or without insurance. Patients with chronic illness should not struggle for years to receive

proper treatment.

Doctors spend lots of hard work helping their patients to the best of their ability, but

sometimes that is not enough. Many chronically ill patients go years and years without receiving

a diagnosis and that can be debilitating and make them feel unheard. Some would argue that the

doctor is the problem, and they need to be more educated in illnesses, but what happens when

they come upon Medically Unexplained Symptoms? The National Library of Medicine explains

that this can cause doctors to sometimes misdiagnose, even when their intentions are well.

While being chronically ill is already difficult, it is important to advocate for yourself in

the healthcare system, especially if you’re not receiving the treatment you deserve. Nowadays,

most doctors’ offices and other healthcare facilities use technology to store files and other

important documents, and that can sometimes cause confusion and unnecessary time wasted

between a patient and their provider. Patients and doctors need to work together to discuss
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symptoms and treatment options so that the patient feels seen and the doctor can properly

diagnosis and help them. If not, it’s okay to ask for a second opinion, Dr. Lotze says. “Don’t give

up; trust that you know what’s happening with your body,” Dr. Greene, MD, MACM, Chief of

the Neuromuscular Division at Houston Methodist’s Stanley H. Appel Department of Neurology,

reminds in an article called “Why Is It So Hard to Get a Diagnosis?”

Though changing the way doctors’ study and the dynamic between them and patients can

help patients receive a diagnosis quicker or prevent a misdiagnosis, there are many illnesses out

there that do need to be researched more. For example, according to the Hospital Healthcare

Europe, there remains a question whether as to chronic fatigue syndrome is underdiagnosed or

misdiagnosed. Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is usually diagnosed to those who are

chronically tired and do fit any other diagnoses. But what explains the other symptoms that

sometimes come along with chronic tiredness? There needs to be more testing, research,

qualifications, and studies for these illnesses and symptoms so that patients do not end up being

misdiagnosed.

Another reason illnesses need to be researched more is because the symptoms can be

mistaken for something else when it’s not. Dr. Greene says, symptoms can also develop slowly

and unusually, making it not as obvious to diagnosis right away. With communication between

doctors and listening to patients and more research into rarer illnesses, a misdiagnosis and lack of

even could be beneficial.

Changing the healthcare system matters because there are so many patients who struggle

for years with the unknown. I have always believed that as someone who has struggled with

chronic illness. According to the Society for the Improvement of Diagnosis in Medicine, nearly

12 million U.S. outpatients are misdiagnosed each year. Something needs to change, whether that
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be doctors’ education, patient and doctor communication, costs, or the entire healthcare system.

While there are many flaws in the healthcare system, such as the treatment towards nurses,

insurance and overall costs, doctor negligence, this topic of patient injustice is very important to

me and needs to be recognized more to those who are not living with a chronic illness or

disability. Everyone deserves to have the best quality of life and living with chronic issues make

that difficult, but being heard and seen as a patient the stress of living with a chronic illness can

be subsided.
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Works Cited:

hheadmin. “Chronic Fatigue Syndrome – Underdiagnosed or Misdiagnosed?” Hospital Healthcare

Europe, 31 Jan. 2018, https://hospitalhealthcare.com/news/chronic-fatigue-syndrome-

underdiagnosed-or-misdiagnosed/.

Aiarzaguena, José M., et al. “The Diagnostic Challenges Presented by Patients with Medically

Unexplained Symptoms in General Practice.” Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care,

vol. 26, no. 2, 2008, pp. 99–105. PubMed Central, https://doi.org/10.1080/02813430802048662.

Wunderlich, Shaila. “Why Is It So Hard to Get a Diagnosis?” Quest | Muscular Dystrophy

Association, 11 May 2023, https://mdaquest.org/why-is-it-so-hard-to-get-a-diagnosis/.

Sun, Lena H. “Most Americans Will Get a Wrong or Late Diagnosis at Least Once in Their Lives.”

Washington Post, 26 Oct. 2021. www.washingtonpost.com,

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2015/09/22/most-americans-who-go-

to-the-doctor-will-get-a-wrong-or-late-diagnosis-at-least-once-in-their-lives-study-says/.