How A Physician Who Does Not Timely Diagnose Your Breast Cancer May Be Liable For Medical Malpractice
By: J. Hernandez
Submitted: 2010-07-21 21:45:25 | Word Count: 678
There are two mistakes that physicians are most likely to make that might hold up the diagnosis of a woman's breast cancer - (1) not performing any diagnostic testing to rule out cancer when a lump is felt in the breast and (2) misinterpreting a mammogram. Should a physician make one of these mistakes and thus holds up the detection of the cancer until it reaches an advanced stage, the female patient may have a claim for medical malpractice. The first most common error made by physicians is not performing any diagnostic testing in the event that a female patient says that she identified a lump during a self-conducted breast examination or the doctor finds the lump while performing a screening clinical breast examination. Some doctors will assure the woman that this is just a noncancerous cyst, especially if she is under 40 and has no family history of breast cancer.
But, even though the majority of new cases of breast cancer appear in females over fifty years old, younger women can, and are, diagnosed with breast cancer daily. Further, a physician cannot rule out the possibility of cancer based merely on a clinical breast examination. Because of this , a physician should order diagnostic testing in order to establish whether the mass is cancerous. Tests that can be ordered are a mammogram, a biopsy or an aspiration. In case the patient does indeed have have breast cancer, the failure to order diagnostic testing can result in the growth and spread of the cancer.
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The other most likely error made by doctors is to misread a mammogram. Mammograms are used to visualize structures in the breast that might be cancerous. The mammogram makes pictures of the inside of the breast by using low dose x-rays of the woman's compressed breast. The resulting images are then reviewed by doctors for the presence of any structures or changes that could be cancerous. Regrettably, doctors sometimes overlook what is literally in front of their eyes. Sometimes doctors miss an abnormality that shows up in the mammogram. Other times, physicians improperly diagnose an abnormal structure or change as harmless without recommending any diagnostic examination like a biopsy to rule out cancer.
By making either mistake a doctor may cause a delay in the detection of the patient's breast cancer. The longer the detection of breast cancer is delayed, the more likely it is that the cancer will spread and reach an advanced stage. When the cancer spreads, the treatment possibilities for the woman are reduced. In addition, her 5-year survival rate, the chance she has of surviving the cancer for 5 years or more, even with treatment, decreases significantly.
At Stage III, it is roughly 55%. By Stage IV, it can be as low as 20%. If the cancer had been detected early, the 5-year survival rate would have been over 80 percent, potentially as high as over 95% if it had been diagnosed sufficiently early.
Medical mistakes may have terrible effects. This is especially true for patients who have cancer. Any hold up to the detection of the cancer may result in the loss of the breast, reduced treatment possibilities, and under certain circumstances, may be even lead to the death of the patient. Under such circumstances, medical mistakes such as those described above may amount to medical malpractice.
Plaintiffs only have a limited amount of time to pursue a medical malpractice lawsuit. Waiting beyond that time will forever bar the plaintiff from succeeding on the claim and from recovering.. Hence, if you think that you or a family member have been the victim of medical malpractice, you should consult a lawyer right away.
Author Resource:-
Joseph Hernandez is an attorney accepting medical malpractice cases. Learn about stage 4 breast cancer and other cancer matters including advanced colon cancer visit the websites
