Three Physicians Do Not Diagnose Man's Colon Cancer For Multiple Years Despite Indications

Three Physicians Do Not Diagnose Man's Colon Cancer For Multiple Years Despite Indications

One of the most baffling things for people to understand is the idea that several physicians may, over the course of several years, misdiagnose a family member's cancer. It is even more difficult to understand how specialists can fail to detect the cancer. But this does happen. See, for example, the following reported case.

In this case a forty eight year old married male with children started treating with a family doctor. When the patient turned fifty eight, the physician finally did a sigmoidoscoy. The doctor noted that the sigmoidoscopy revealed that the man had a ridge and that it was bleeding. As a result of this finding, the physician sent the man to a second physician who in turn also did a sigmoidoscopy. This physician also detected the ridge and biopsied it. Seven months later this second doctor did a full colonoscopy which found a polyploid ring measuring roughly 2 cm. A part of this polyp was removed and cauterized. Several samples of the polyp were taken. A biopsy of the samples found atypical cells and determined that it was not clear whether the entire polyp had been extracted. The next year this second physician carried out a barium enema. The doctor noted the results as normal apart from minor diverticulosis. The physician recommended that the man go back for a follow-up colonoscopy in 3 years. The physician failed to make any other recommendations.

Two years later the man sought a different doctor and asked for an additional sigmoidoscopy. This third physician noted inflammation and bleeding. But, this doctor did not biopsy the region or do any additional evaluation or treatment of the inflamed spot. Instead, this doctor recommended that the patient get another sigmoidoscopy after a few years.

After still one more year, the patient went back to third physician. During this visit the patient told the doctor that he noticed rectal bleeding. The physician did a rectal examination with an anoscopy however he failed to do any further evaluation even after the man again reported rectal bleeding later that same year. After still one more year, the patient reported multiple weeks of constipation and abdominal pain. The physician prescribed a dietary supplement and stool softener for the symptoms but did no further evaluations to figure out the cause.

A short while later the patient felt intense abdominal pain and went to the emergency room where it was found that he had blockage. Biopsies of the rectum area indicated the likely presence of cancer. The man had another sigmoidoscopy a month later which found cancer.

Due to the size and location of the cancer the patient was started on chemotherapy and radiation therapy prior to surgery. During surgery his rectum was taken out and a number of tumors were found in his liver. Eventually, the liver tumors increased in size and there was further spread of the cancer to his lungs. The man ultimately passed away from the cancer.

The law firm that handled the resulting case documented that the the family was able to recover $825,000 in a settlement with the doctors. This matter is an example of the value of close monitoring of patients with a history of symptoms and the importance of decently diagnosing the reason for those symptoms. Because cancer can spread and in time become incurable whe there is a delay in diagnosis, treatment and an accurate and early diagnosis is crucial. Anything else may lead to a tragic result.

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