overdiagnosis
Noun
Meaning
overdiagnosis (countable and uncountable, plural overdiagnoses)
(medicine) To diagnose something too frequently, or based on insufficient evidence, or without benefit to the patient.
Related terms
Examples
Furthermore, the false-positive rate of tests, such as the D-dimer assay and computed tomographic pulmonary angiograms, is high, leading to more tests and overdiagnosis and including risks of unnecessary anticoagulation."
The trouble with overdiagnosis is that while the cancers doctors find wouldn’t have harmed their patients, the treatment and stress that result from the diagnosis probably will.