Ways In Which Medical Malpractice Claim May Result From Delayed Diagnosis Of Colon Cancer

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Ways In Which Medical Malpractice Claim May Result From Delayed Diagnosis Of Colon Cancer

Being told one has colon cancer tends to raise dread in most of people. It can thus feel quite reassuring for your doctor tell you that you just have hemorrhoids and there is no need to worry about the blood in your stool. Yet this reassurance ought to not be given until the doctor has ruled out the chance of colon cancer (and other potentially serious gastrointestinal issues). Otherwise, you may not discover that you have colon cancer until it is too late. Should a doctor decide without testing assumes that claims of blood in the stool or rectal bleeding by a patient are due to hemorrhoids and it subsequently is discovered that the patient had colon cancer all along, that doctor may not have met the standard of care and the patient might have a legal claim against that physician.

It is generally thought that there are currently at least 10 million people with hemorrhoids and another million new cases of hemorrhoids will probably arise this year. In contrast, a little more than the 100 thousand new incidents of colon cancer that will be diagnosed this year. Further, colon cancers do not always. In the event that they do, the bleeding could be intermittent. And based on where the cancer is in the colon, the blood might not even be apparent in the stool. Perhaps it is in part as a result of the difference in the volume of instances being identified that some doctors basically consider that the existence of blood in the stool or rectal bleeding is due to hemorrhoids. This amounts to playing the odds. A physician who reaches this conclusion will be correct more than 90% of the time. It seems reasonable, doesn't it? The problem, however, is that if the physician is incorrect in this diagnosis, the patient may not discover he or she has colon cancer until it has progressed to an advanced stage, maybe even to the point where treatment is no longer effective.

If colon cancer is found while still contained within the colon, the patient's chances of surviving the cancer are over 80%. The 5 year survival rate is a statistical guage of the percentage of individuals who are still alive a minimum of 5 years subsequent to diagnosis. Treatment protocols for early stage colon cancer generally calls for only surgery so as to take out the cancerous growth and surrounding sections of the colon. Subject to factors such as the stage of the cancer and the patient's medical history (including family medical history), age, and the patient's physical condition, chemotherapy may or may not be required.
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This is why doctors generally advise that a colonoscopy ought to be ordered immediately if someone complains of blood in the stool or rectal bleeding. A colonoscopy is a procedure whereby a flexible scope with a camera on the end is used to see the interior of the colon. If growths (polyps or tumors) are detected, they can be taken out (if sufficiently small) or sampled and examined for the existence of cancer (by biopsy). Providing no cancer is detected during the colonoscopy may colon cancer be ruled out as a cause of the blood.

But, if the cancer is not detected until it has spread beyond the colon and has reached the lymph nodes, the patient's five year survival rate will generally be around 53%. In addition to surgery to remove the tumor and adjacent portions of the colon treatment for this stage of colon cancer calls for chemotherapy in an attempt to remove any cancer that might be left in the body. If the cancer spreads to other organs for example the liver, lungs, or brain, the person's 5 year survival rate is reduced to near 8%. If treatment options exist for a patient at this stage, they may include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and other medications. Treatment may or may not still be helpful the moment the cancer is this advanced. If treatment ceases to be effective, colon cancer is fatal. This year, around 48,000 individuals will die in the U.S. from colon cancer metastasis.

As a result of diagnosing complaints of blood in the stool or rectal bleeding as caused by hemorrhoids while not doing the correct tests to rule out colon cancer, a physician puts the patient at risk of not learning he or she has colon cancer until it progresses to an advanced, possibly no longer treatable, stage. This might amount to a departure from the accepted standard of medical care and might bring about a medical malpractice claim.

In the event that you or a a member of your family were told by a doctor that blood in the stool or rectal bleeding were due to only hemorrhoids, and were subsequently diagnosed with metastatic colon cancer, you need to contact an attorney at once. This article is for basic educational usage only and is not intended to be legal (or medical) advice. For any medical issues you should seek advice from physician. You should not act, or refrain from acting, based upon any information contained herein but ought to rather consult with an attorney. A competent lawyer with experience in medical malpractice might be able to help you determine should you have a claim for a delay in the diagnosis of the colon cancer. Immediately contact an attorney are there is a time limit in lawsuits such as these.

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