Do You Have A Medical Malpractice If Your Physician Delayed The Diagnosis Of Your Breast Cancer

Share:    

There are two mistakes that doctors are most prone to making that can delay the diagnosis

of a female patient's breast cancer - failing to recommend diagnostic tests to rule out cancer when a lump is felt in the breast and misreading a mammogram. If a doctor makes either of these mistakes and thus holds up the diagnosis of the cancer until it spreads, she may have a lawsuit for malpractice.

The first most likely mistake made by physicians is not to order a diagnostic test after a female patient says that she found a mass in the course of a self-conducted breast examination or the physician discovers the mass during a routine clinical breast examination. Certain doctors will assure the patient she has nothing more than a noncancerous cyst, commonly if she is younger than forty and has no family history of breast cancer.

But, even though the majority of new incidents of breast cancer appear in females over 50 years old, younger females can, and are, diagnosed with breast cancer regularly. Further, a doctor cannot verify, using only a clinical breast examination, whether a lump in the breast is a benign cyst or is a cancerous mass. This is why a physician should perform diagnostic testing so as to determine whether the mass is cancerous. Diagnostic tests the doctor can order include a mammogram, a biopsy or an aspiration. Should the woman actually have breast cancer, not ordering diagnostic testing may lead to the growth and spread of the cancer.

The second most likely error made by physicians is to incorrectly interpret a mammogram. Mammograms are taken to check the breast for abnormalities that might be due to cancer. The mammogram produces images of the inside of the breast by using x-rays of the woman's compressed breast. The resulting images are then examined by doctors for the presence of any structures or changes that might be cancerous.
Share:    

However, physicians in some cases overlook what is basically in front of them. At times doctors overlook an abnormality that turns up in the mammogram. In some other cases, doctors incorrectly diagnose an abnormal structure or change as harmless without ordering any diagnostic examination such as a biopsy to exclude the possibility of cancer.

By making either mistake a physician might cause a delay in the detection of the patients cancer. The longer the detection of breast cancer is delayed, the more likely it is that the cancer will spread and reach an advanced stage. If the cancer spreads, the treatment options available to the patient are reduced. In addition, the woman's 5-year survival rate, the probability that she will be alive at least five years after her diagnosis, even with treatment, lessens considerably.
Share:    

By rhe time the cancer advances to the third stage, the survival rate drops to fifty-five percent and by the fourth stage it is only roughly twenty percent. Had the cancer been detected early, the 5-year survival rate would have been over eighty percent, perhaps as high as above 95% if it had been detected sufficiently early.

Medical mistakes can lead to tragic consequences. This is particularly so for people with cancer. Any hold up to the detection of the cancer could end in the loss of the breast, reduced treatment possibilities, and in some cases, may be even lead to the death of the individual. Under such circumstances, errors like those described above may constitute malpractice.

Plaintiffs only have a limited amount of time to pursue a malpractice claim. Waiting beyond that time will forever bar the plaintiff from succeeding on the claim and from recovering.. So, should you believe that you or a family member have been the victim of medical malpractice, you should consult a lawyer right away.

by:Joseph Hernandez

POST COMMENT

Are Conventional Medicines for Diabetes Harmful? Not only drugs: four ways of dealing with cancer Drug-Free Acid Reflux Treatment – Get Permanent Relief from Heartburn Without Those Pills Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: CYCC) Cancer Drug Gets FDA Orphan Status Cancer Treatment Get Medical Treatment For Prostate, Breast Cancer How a Borderline diabetes diet beat Diabetes Drug Metformin Aarkstore Enterprise Colorectal Cancer - Global Drug Forecasts And Treatment Analysis To 2020 Diabetes Blood Sugar Natural Cure And Alternative Medicine For Juvenile Diabetes Doctor Sued For Medical Malpractice By Couple For Three Year Delay In Detecting Cancer In Man's Prostate Diabetes Drug Actos side effects and your heart problems Diabetes Reversal Report Review >> Don't Even Think About Taking More Drugs Until You read this! An immuno booster medicine for AIDS and Cancer patients Attorney Helps Patients With Advanced Colon Cancer Due To Medical Malpractice By A Doctor