Metastatic Colon Cancer Due To No Screening By Physician May Lead To A Medical Malpractice Lawsuit

The second greatest number of cancer fatalities is from colon cancer.

. Every year, approximately 48,000 people will die as a result of colon cancer. A large number of these deaths would be avoided with early detection and treatment through standard colon cancer screening of asymptomatic men and women.

If the disease is detected while it is still a small polyp while undergoing a regularly scheduled screening procedure, such as a colonoscopy, the polyp can ordinarily be removed during the colonoscopy without the requirement for the surgical removal of any portion of the colon. Once the polyp grows to the point where it turns cancerous and gets to Stage I or Stage II, the tumor and a part of the colon on both sides is surgical taken out. The relative 5-year survival rate is over 90% for Stage 1 and seventy three percent for Stage 2.

If the cancer reaches Stage III, surgery is no longer sufficient and the person also needs to undergo chemotherapy. The relative 5-year survival rate drops to 53%, depending on such variables as how many lymph nodes that show up positive for cancer.

Once the colon cancer metastasizes, treatment might require the use of chemotherapy and perhaps additional drugs along with surgery on various organs. Should the size and quantity of tumors in other organs (like the liver and lungs) are small enough, surgery on these organs might be the first treatment, then chemotherapy. Sometimes the dimensions or number of tumors in the different organs removes the choice of surgery as a treatment.
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If chemotherapy and other drugs can reduce the number and dimensions of these tumors, surgery might then become a viable follow up treatment. If not, chemotherapy and various drugs (perhaps through clinical trials) may temporarily stop or limit the continued spread of the cancer. The relative 5-year survival rate drops to approximately eight percent.

The statistics are clear. The time frame when the colon cancer is detected and treated makes a dramatic difference. If diagnosed and treated early, the individual has a high likelihood of outliving the cancer. When detection and treatment is delayed, the probability starts shifting from the person so that if the colon cancer gets to the lymph nodes, the percentage is almost even. And the odds fall greatly once the colon cancer metastasizes.

However, all too often doctors fail to advise standard cancer testing to men and women who are asymptomatic. By the time the cancer is eventually discovered - frequently since the tumor has become so large that it is causing blockage, since the person is anemic and it is worsening, or since the patient starts to notice other indications - the cancer is a Stage 3 or even a Stage 4. The individual now confronts a very different outlook than if the cancer had been discovered early through standard screening tests.

Attorneys who handle cancer cases often refer to this as a "loss of chance" of a better recovery. That is to say, because the doctor failed to advisev that the person have a routine screening test, the cancer is now considerably more advanced and the person has a much lower likelihood of outliving the cancer. A doctor may be liable for not meeting the standard of care if he or she does not suggest cancer screening to a patient who later is found to have metastatic colon cancer.

Contact an attorney right away should you think there was a delayed diagnosis of colon cancer because of a doctor's failure to recommend routine colon cancer screening. This article is for general informational purposes only and should not be considered legal (or medical) advice. For any health concerns your should consult with a physician. Should you suspect you might have a medical malpractice case you should seek professional legal counsel right away. A competent lawyer experienced in handling cancer cases can assist determine if you have a claim for a delayed diagnosis colon cancer from a failure on the part of a doctor to recommend colon cancer screening. The law limits the amount of time you have to pursue a case so call a lawyer immediately.

by:Joseph Hernandez

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