subject: Physician Might Be Liable For Supposing Blood Is From Hemorrhoids When It Is Colon Cancer [print this page] Physician Might Be Liable For Supposing Blood Is From Hemorrhoids When It Is Colon Cancer
The very use of the phrase "colon cancer" tends to raise dread in the majority of people. It can therefore feel very reassuring for your physician say that you merely have hemorrhoids. That there is no need to worry about the blood in your stool. Yet this reassurance ought to not be given until the physician has eliminated the possibility of colon cancer (and other potentially dangerous gastrointestinal issues). Else, you might not discover that you have colon cancer before it is too late. If a physician routinely considers that reports of blood in the stool or rectal bleeding by a patient are from 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 doctor.
It is projected that there are at least 10 million men and women with hemorrhoids and another million new incidents of hemorrhoids will likely occur this year. In contrast, a little over the 100 thousand new incidents of colon cancer that will be diagnosed . In addition, colon cancers do not always. In the event that they do, the bleeding might be intermittent. And depending on the location of the cancer in the colon, the blood might not actually be visible in the stool. Maybe it is in part because of the difference in the volume of cases being identified that some doctors simply assume that blood in the stool or rectal bleeding is due to hemorrhoids. This is gambling, pure and simple. A doctor making this diagnosis is going to be right greater than ninety percent of the time. It sounds realistic, doesn't it? The problem, however, is that if the doctor is incorrect in this diagnosis, the patient may not discover he or she has colon cancer until it has reached a late stage, possibly even to where it is no longer treatable.
For this reason doctors frequently recommend that a colonoscopy ought to be ordered immediately if a patient complains of blood in the stool or rectal bleeding. A colonoscopy is a procedure that uses a flexible tube with a camera on the end is employed to see the inside of the colon. If growths (polyps or tumors) are detected, they can be taken out (if sufficiently small) or sampled and tested for the presence of cancer (by biopsy). Only if no cancer is found from the colonoscopy may colon cancer be eliminated as a source of the blood.
As a result of telling the patient that blood in the stool or rectal bleeding as resulting from hemorrhoids without completing the right tests to eliminate the possibility of colon cancer, a physician places the patient at risk of not knowing that the patient colon cancer before it progresses to an advanced, possibly untreatable, stage. This might constitute a departure from the accepted standard of medical care and may result in a medical malpractice lawsuit.
If you or a family member were told by a doctor that blood in the stool or rectal bleeding were due to nothing more than hemorrhoids, and have since been diagnosed with advanced colon cancer, you need to speak to an attorney without delay. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal (or medical) advice. If you have any medical issues you should consult with a doctor. You should not act, or refrain from acting, based upon any information contained herein but should instead consult with an attorney. A competent lawyer who is experienced in medical malpractice might be able to help you determine if you have a claim for a delay in the diagnosis of the colon cancer. Immediately consult with an attorney are there is a time limit in claims such as these.
