Why Missing Signs Of Colon Cancer May Trigger A Malpractice Case

It is not uncommon for a medical malpractice attorney to be approached by a prospective

client who begins by saying something similar to, A physician assured me I just had hemorrhoids but now I have colon cancer metastasis. What legal options does the patient have in these circumstances?

The first thing to note is that most doctors acknowledge that if an adult presents with rectal bleeding or blood in the stool a colonoscopy should be conducted in order to determine the source of the blood. The colonoscopy helps figure out if the blood is from colon cancer or something else like hemorrhoids. But only assuming that the blood is the result of hemorrhoids risks a delay in diagnosing a cancer.

Why is this such a critical error? To understand that lets briefly consider how cancer kills. Colon cancer is projected to kill roughly 48,000 men and women this year. Colon cancer kills when it grows and progresses outside of the colon getting into the bloodstream through lymph nodes and taking hold in additional organs like the liver and the lungs. After the cancer reaches that point a patients treatment alternatives are limited and the likelihood that he or she will survive the cancer are considerably reduced. Treatments, which can include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and other drugs, may or may not be effective.

If at some point treatment no longer works, colon cancer is fatal. Yet it takes time for the cancer to reach that point. It normally begins as a polyp. Eventually these cells grow and make their way outside the colon where they then begin to spread and grow more.

It is thus critical that the cancer be diagnosed before it has spread. Regrettably, all too frequently doctors merely assume that blood in the stool or rectal bleeding is from hemorrhoids, despite a number of reports by the individual. Instead of sending the individual to a a gastroenterologist or doing tests, for instance a colonoscopy, to rule out cancer, they tell the individual that there is nothing to worry about.

If the person did have cancer and it is not detected until later, it might advance to a stage 3 or a stage 4 . At this point, it may be much farther along than it was at the time the patient originally reported rectal bleeding or blood in the stool. As a result, the person now has a much reduced chance of survival. Under such circumstances, the failure on the part of a physician to correctly rule out cancer at the time of the patients initial reports might constitute a departure from the accepted standard of medical care resulting in a medical malpractice claim.

by: J. Hernandez

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