The Case of Misdiagnosis Caused by Misheard Speech Recognition Software
When a new hospital speech recognition system mistakenly changed a word, a woman dealing with a yeast infection was falsely informed that she had cancer.
Nicola Denyer, 39, went to an appointment at Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother (QEQM) Hospital in Margate seeking treatment for her uncomfortable throat, only to be misdiagnosed.
The error occurred when the new software misinterpreted the word "candida" (a common yeast infection) as cancer, leading to the mix-up.
Her GP received a letter stating: "Flexible nasal endoscopy confirms presence of cancer at the base of the tongue, which can certainly account for this lady’s symptoms."
Concerned by the letter, Mrs. Denyer’s partner, Paul Valentine, who had previously lost his wife to cancer, suspected...