In a case receiving national attention, a pediatrician in Tampa Bay, Fla., misdiagnosed a 16-year-old patient's stage 4 Hodgkin's lymphoma as the flu, according to a WFTS report.
After experiencing fatigue and shortness of breath for several weeks, the teen's pediatrician told him he most likely had the flu.
When he wasn't showing signs of improvement, the teen's family rushed him to the emergency room. "We weren't aware at the time his right lung was collapsed and his left lung was 30 percent collapsed he was having trouble breathing," the teen's mother told WFTS.
After undergoing a number of tests, the 16-year-old was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma. He had a blood transfusion, a bone marrow biopsy and surgeries to drain the fluid from his lungs and heart.
The teen is now undergoing chemotherapy at Tampa-based St. Joseph's Children's Hospital.
Several national media outlets are reporting the incident. The name of the medical provider responsible for the misdiagnosis was not specified.