Ways In Which Medical Malpractice Lawsuit May Arise Out Of Delayed Diagnosis Of Colon Cancer
By: J. Hernandez
Submitted: 2010-07-17 23:06:23 | Word Count: 969
The very use of the term "colon cancer" tends to bring up worry in most of people. It can thus feel quite reassuring to have your doctor say that you just have hemorrhoids and there is no need to be anxious about the blood in your stool. Yet this reassurance should only come after the physician has eliminated the likelihood of colon cancer (and other possibly serious gastrointestinal issues). Otherwise, you might not find out that you have colon cancer until it is too late. Should a physician decide without testing assumes that complaints of blood in the stool or rectal bleeding by a patient are due to hemorrhoids and it subsequently is discovered that the patient had colon cancer all along, that doctor might have committed medical malpractice. Under those circimstances, the patient may have a legal claim against that doctor.
Mere than 10 million men and women have hemorrhoids and another million new instances of hemorrhoids will probably arise this year as opposed to a little more than the 100 thousand new instances of colon cancer that will be detected this year. In addition, not all colon cancers bleed. If they do, the bleeding may be non-consistent. Also depending on where the cancer is in the colon, the blood might not actually be seen in the stool. Perhaps it is simply due to the difference in the volume of instances being identified that a number of physicians just consider that the existence of blood in the stool or rectal bleeding is because of hemorrhoids. This is gambling, pure and simple. A physician who reaches this conclusion is going to be right more than 90% of the time. It seems realistic, doesn't it? The problem, though, is that if the physician is inaccurate in this diagnosis, the patient may not learn he or she has colon cancer before it has progressed to a late stage, possibly even to the point where treatment is no longer effective.
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When colon cancer is detected before it metastasizes outside the colon, the individual's chances of surviving the cancer are over eighty percent. The five year survival rate is a statistical indicator of the percentage of individuals who are still alive at least five years subsequent to diagnosis. Treatment protocols for early stage colon cancer frequently entails just surgery in order to take out the tumor and surrounding portions of the colon. Depending on factors like the stage of the cancer and the patient's medical history (including family medical history), how old the person is, and the person's physical condition, chemotherapy may or may not be required.
This is why physicians typically recommend that a colonoscopy ought to be ordered right away if someone complains of blood in the stool or rectal bleeding. A colonoscopy is a procedure whereby a flexible scope with a camera on the end is used to visualize the interior of the colon. In the event that something is detected during the procedure, it may be possible to remove it then and there should it not be very big. In any case, it will be biopsied to check for cancer. Providing no cancer is found during the colonoscopy may colon cancer be eliminated as a cause of the blood.
But, if the cancer is not diagnosed until it has spread beyond the colon and has reached the lymph nodes, the individual's five year survival rate will generally be around 53%. Aside from surgery to take out the tumor and adjacent portions of the colon treatment for this stage of colon cancer requires chemotherapy in an attempt to remove any cancer that might remain in the body. If the cancer reaches distant organs for example the liver, lungs, or brain, the person's 5 year survival rate is lowered to near eight percent. Now treatment may entail surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and other medications. Treatment might no longer be effective the moment the cancer is this advanced. If treatment ceases to be helpful, colon cancer is fatal. This year, around forty eight thousand people will die in the U.S. from advanced colon cancer.
As a result of telling the patient that blood in the stool or rectal bleeding as resulting from hemorrhoids without conducting the proper tests to eliminate the possibility of colon cancer, a doctor places the patient at risk of not finding out that the patient colon cancer before it reaches an advanced, possibly no longer treatable, stage. This may constitute a departure from the accepted standard of medical care and might result in a medical malpractice case.
In the event that you or a family member were assured by a physician that blood in the stool or rectal bleeding were a result of only hemorrhoids, and were later diagnosed with metastatic colon cancer, you ought to contact an attorney immediately. This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be legal (or medical) advice. If you have any medical concerns you should seek advice from doctor. You should not act, or refrain from acting, based upon any information in this article but should instead seek professional legal counsel. A competent attorney with experience in medical malpractice might be able to help you determine should you have a claim for a delay in the diagnosis of the colon cancer. Do not wait to contact a lawyer are there is a time limit in lawsuits such as these.
Author Resource:-
Joseph Hernandez is an Attorney accepting medical malpractice cases. To learn about
advanced colon cancer and other cancer cases including
metastasized breast cancer visit the website
