Evaluation Of Cases In Which Patients Were Not Told About Abnormal Cancer Screening Test Results
By: J. Hernandez
Submitted: 2010-06-29 15:40:57 | Word Count: 661
What would you do if you discovered that you had cancer of the prostate? What would you do if you then also learned that the cancer had already spread beyond the prostate so that it is, at the present time, not curable? And what would you do if you then came to understand that your physician either did not adequately monitor you for prostate cancer or disregarded abnormal results of screening tests that could have helped diagnose your cancer while before it had spread, at a time when it was still curable?
Do you believe that this could not happen to you? Well, look at what happened to the men involved in the following cases:
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In one published lawsuit, a male patient was followed by his doctor, an internist, for three yearsThroughout this period the physician ordered PSA blood tests that showed elevated levels (a sign that the patient might have prostate cancer and which physicians normally concur should be followed by a biopsy). The physician, however, failed to reveal the abnormal test results to the patient. When the patient ultimately found out about the abnormal result and had a full cancer workup it was revealed that it was too late as he now had advanced prostate cancer. The law firm that represented the patient in this matter documented that the resulting case settled for $600,000.
In another published claim, the male patient was not only not informed that a series of PSA tests recorded levels that were elevated and getting worse, but rather was informed by his doctor that the results were normal. When the patient subsequently went to a urologist at the urging of his family, he was found to have advanced prostate cancer as the cancer had already spread to the seminal vesicles. The law firm that handled this matter reported that the was was resolved for a $1,500,000 settlement.
Cases like the preceding occur all too frequently. Whether the doctors do not check the results of the tests, whether they buy into the believe that there is no need to take action even though the PSA is elevated or a nodule of a certain size is detected in the prostate, or whether they just do not accept the guidelines and the standard of care for the action that is proper when screening results are abnormal, these physicians cause a delay that ends up with the growth and spread of the cancer.
Various doctors are of the opinion that there is no advantage to screening men for prostate cancer (or do not appreciate the guidelines) and either simply do not screen their male patients or recommend against it. Other doctors do not check the results of screening tests while other doctors do not follow up on an abnormal screening test result and not order a biopsy or refer the patient to a specialist. The result is often tragic: an avoidable death that becomes unavoidable.
Imagine being the one who got that news. You would likely fight the cancer as hard and as long as you can. What if you were his spouse, his child, his parent? You would help him fight the cancer and you offer him all the love and support you had to give.
Perhaps you might choose to bring a lawsuit for medical malpractice to help protect your family's future. And you might hope that if forced to deal with the mistake and to pay a cost for it, possibly, just possibly, the physician will change the way he or she treats other patients afterward so that this tragedy will not happen again.
Author Resource:-
Joseph Hernandez is an attorney accepting cancer cases. To learn about metastatic prostate cancer and other cancer matters including advanced breast cancer visit the websites
