Diagnosed With Metastatic Colon Cancer? Did Your Physician Fail To Timely Diagnose You?
All too often attorneys who handle cancer malpractice cases are approached by a potential client who starts by saying something similar to, “My doctor kept telling me I just had hemorrhoids and now I have metastatic colon cancer.” Some of the other most frequently seen delayed diagnosis situations involve advanced breast cancer, advanced prostate cancer and advanced colon cancer. Let’s, however, for now just consider colon cancer.
A pattern that goes on much too frequently includes a physician informing a patient with complaints of blood in the stool that the patient merely has hemorrhoids and there is nothing to worry about. But, the blood later turns out to have been because of colon cancer all along. What legal options does the patient have under these circumstances?
Typically, physicians recommend that if a patient present with blood in the stool that a colonoscopy is appropriate to figure out if the patient has colon cancer or the blood is caused by something else. The colonoscopy is a procedure that helps determine whether the blood is the result of colon cancer or something else such as hemorrhoids. However merely assuming that the blood is the result of hemorrhoids, while not performing appropriate tests, risks missing a cancer.
If appropriate tests (such as a colonoscopy) are performed as soon as the patient exhibits symptoms consistent with colon cancer it is possible that the cancer will be found while it is still in the early stage. Early diagnosis often means that the cancer can be removed surgically (or possibly even during a colonoscopy) and the patient may not have to have chemotherapy. Early diagnosis also generally means that the patient has a much better chance of surviving the cancer. Thus a delay in diagnosing the cancer and treating the patient that is lengthy enough to allow the cancer make it to an advanced stage will require that the patient undergo additional or further treatments and markedly decreases the likelihood that the patient will survive the cancer.When sufficient time goes by before the patient is diagnosed the cancer will advanced to a late stage. Once the cancer reaches a late stage the patient has less treatment options and is more likely to die from the cancer.
To determine whether you might have a medical malpractice claim against a physician or other health care provider please contact a medical negligence lawyer. The above is meant neither as medical advice nor legal advice. Make sure you consult with a doctor for any health issues and before taking any medical advice. Please consult a lawyer with regards to any potential legal claim.
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