subject: Family Recovers $2.5 Million For Death Of Woman After Doctor Did Not Diagnose Her Cancer [print this page] Less than one percent of those diagnosed with colon cancer are younger than 35. Yet, given the fact that colon cancer can kill physicians generally agree that rectal bleeding, even in an individual below 35, should be investigated by a colonoscopy to figure out whether the bleeding is due to cancer.. Just supposing that the blood is caused by hemorrhoids does not meet the standard of care.
Take, for example, what occurred in a reported claim involving a woman who told her primary care physician that she had blood in her stool and felt pain during bowel movements. The woman was just twenty four years old. The doctor, justwithout even performing an examination, told her to take a laxative after deciding that she had diarrhea and other bowel problems. The woman went back after 4 months claiming she had constipation, pain and problems sitting. On this occasion the doctor at last examined her but assured her she had hemorrhoids. His treatment: an enema. She saw that physician on 2 additional occassions and each time was reassured that her symptoms were due to hemorrhoids and she had nothing to be concerned with.
The woman had to be hurried to an emergency room because of extreme pain 7 months after her original visit to the family physician. They set her up for a colonoscopy and was found to have advanced colorectal cancer. The cancer was so widespread by the time she underwent surgery that not only did the surgeon have to take out part of her colon but also had to remove her uterus and a section of her lower intestines. The woman then needed chemotherapy. The woman eventually had a recurrence and died of the disease less than three years after. She was survived by her husband and daughter, a minor.
The law firm that represented the family reported that a jury awarded the family a sum of $2.5 million. The verdict included the maximum of $350,000 permitted for pain and suffering under the law of the State where the physician practices. The remainder of the award was for future lost wages. This lawsuit is just one example of what is perhaps the most frequent medical error concerning the delayed diagnosis of colon cancer.
Too often doctors do not order a colonoscopy or send the patient to a gastroenterologist when a individual reports rectal bleeding or blood in the stool. Rather, these physicians simply assume that the blood is the result of hemorrhoids. This is particularly common when the person is under fifty years old.
When a situation such as that described above occurs and the individual dies for the reason that the cancer progressed because of the delay in diagnosis the surviving family might be able to bring a case against the doctor responsible for the delay.
