Lawsuit For Colon Cancer Death Of Twenty-Seven Year Old When Physician Dismissed Her Reports Of Rectal Bleeding
By: J. Hernandez
Submitted: 2010-06-26 14:57:30 | Word Count: 545
Statistically less than one percent of those diagnosed with colon cancer are under the age of 35. But, given the lethal nature of the disease doctors generally agree that the presence of rectal bleeding, even in someone below 35, should be investigated by a colonoscopy so as to figure out the source of the bleeding Merely supposing that the blood is from hemorrhoids does not meet the standard of care.
Consider what took place in a published claim concerning a woman who complained to her family doctor that she had blood in her stool and felt pain as she had bowel movements. The woman was only twenty four years old. The physician, justwithout even doing an examination, prescribed a laxative after deciding that she had diarrhea and other bowel issues. She returned four months later claiming she had constipation, pain and problems sitting. This time the physician at last examined her but told her she had hemorrhoids. The physician recommended an enema. She saw that doctor on 2 additional occassions and each time was reassured that her symptoms were due to hemorrhoids and she had nothing to worry about.
[ advertisement ]
The woman had to be hurried to an emergency room complaining of intense pain 7 months subsequent to her first trip to her primary care physician. They set her up for a colonoscopy and was found to have advanced colorectal cancer. She underwent surgery (which because of the how far the cancer had advanced required not only removal of a portion of her colon, it also required removal of her uterus and a portion of the lower intestines). The surgery was subsequently followed by chemotherapy. The woman ultimately had a recurrence and died of the disease less than three years after. Her husband and minor daughter survived her.
The law firm that represented the family reported that the matter went to trail and the jury awarded the family a sum of $2.5 million. The award included $350,000 the most 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 prevalent medical error concerning a delay in the diagnosis of colon cancer.
Too often physicians do not perform a colonoscopy or refer 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 caused by hemorrhoids. This is especially typical if the person is under 50 years old.
When a matter such as that described above occurs and the person passes away for the reason that the cancer progressed so far that a cure was no longer possible as a result of the delay in diagnosis the surviving family may be able to bring a lawsuit against the physician who caused the delay.
Author Resource:-
Joseph Hernandez is an Attorney accepting medical malpractice cases. You can learn more about cases involving advanced colon cancer and breast cancer metastasis by visiting the websites
