Faulty Test Results

Every year, up to 12 million diagnostic test errors occur in the United States. According to recent research, tens of thousands of people die each year as a result of medical errors, with some of those deaths undoubtedly the result of testing errors. But what if testing is required to determine who receives organ transplants? That, too, can go wrong.

A woman in need of a liver transplant was removed from the waiting list after doctors discovered she had been drinking. That would obviously be a major disqualifier for a liver. You don't want to give someone a new one that they will inevitably destroy. But there was a problem: the woman hadn't been drinking.

The issue with testing for such things is that doctors are prone to dismissing patients who present contradictory evidence. And they are not necessarily incorrect; many patients lie. However, this does not imply that they all do. It was discovered that the woman's bladder was producing its own alcohol in this case. After further investigation, she was eventually reconsidered for a transplant. This is one of the unexpected reasons that organ transplants are denied.