How cancer patients can be victims of medical malpractice
If you notice a sudden change in your body or your health, that’s a good reason to see a doctor. Some changes that deserve your attention and should prompt a visit to the doctor because they are potential symptoms of cancer include:
- Sudden weight loss
- Feeling tired all the time
- A persistent cough
- A new or growing mole
- Altered bowel habits
- Yellowing skin
Being able to quickly diagnose these medical problems is critical, of course; the faster the diagnosis the sooner treatment can begin.
If a patient presents symptoms that could indicate a diagnosis of cancer, a doctor should consider ordering diagnostic tests, including blood tests, urine samples, x-rays, CAT or MRI scans, or biopsies.
If a patient is misdiagnosed or there is failure to diagnose their cancer, it can result in serious harm and even death. As the cancer progresses, patients have fewer treatment options; those that remain could be risky and/or invasive, and, sadly, may have little effect on treating the cancer or preventing it from metastasizing.
Misdiagnosed cancer patients may be able to file a legal claim for medical malpractice to recover the resulting damages.
Where it starts
A total of 1.9 million new cancer cases were diagnosed in the U.S. in 2022. Of these 609,360 are expected to be fatal. Some common types of cancer include, but are not limited to:
- Breast
- Lung
- Prostate
- Skin
- Colorectal
- Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
In one study concerning cancer misdiagnosis conducted at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, tissue biopsies from 6,000 patients across the country were reviewed. The researchers discovered that one out of 71 patients had been misdiagnosed; one out of five cancers were misidentified as the wrong type of cancer.
The results of this study serve to illustrate how many patients are receiving no treatment, delayed treatment, unnecessary treatment, or mistreatment. This is an ongoing issue.
During treatment
Receiving the wrong cancer diagnosis and/or the wrong treatment can cause serious harm or even result in a patient’s death. For example, a breast cancer patient that is misdiagnosed with an invasive type of cancer could end up having unnecessary surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation, all of which could result in significant, painful, and long-lasting side effects.
Conversely, a patient who has an invasive type of breast cancer that is misdiagnosed, for example, due to radiology errors, could receive minimal or no cancer treatment, in which case the cancer could spread and become harder to treat before the doctors realize their error.
If you have been a victim of a cancer misdiagnosis, you have a legal right to bring a suit for medical malpractice. These cases are complex in nature because you must demonstrate that the negligence on the part of your doctor or other healthcare professional directly impacted your treatment, quality of life, and/or lifespan.
Contact the Law Offices of Scott S. Harris, medical malpractice attorney, to schedule a free consultation.