Twenty-Seven Year Old Woman Passes Away Of Colon Cancer Because Of 7 Month Holdup In Her Diagnosis
By: J. Hernandez
Submitted: 2010-07-28 21:33:32 | Word Count: 523
Statistically less than one percent people diagnosed with colon cancer are younger than 35. But, because of the fact that colon cancer can kill physicians generally acknowledge that the presence of rectal bleeding, even in someone under thirty-five, should be investigated by a colonoscopy in order to verify the source of the bleeding Simply assuming that the blood is from hemorrhoids may constitute malpractice.
Consider what occurred in a reported case regarding a woman who complained to her family doctor that she saw blood in her stool and felt pain as she had bowel movements. She was only 24. The physician, justwithout even conducting an examination, prescribed a laxative after diagnosing her with diarrhea and other bowel problems. She returned four months later claiming she had constipation, pain and problems sitting. On this occasion the physician finally examined her and assured her she had hemorrhoids. His treatment: an enema. The woman saw that doctor on 2 additional occassions and every time was reassured that she only had hemorrhoids and she had nothing to worry about.
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She needed to be rushed to an emergency room complaining of extreme pain 7 months after her original trip to her primary care physician. They scheduled a colonoscopy through which she was diagnosed with advanced colorectal cancer. The cancer was so widespread by the time she had surgery that not only did the surgeon need to take out a portion of her colon but also had to remove her uterus and a section of her lower intestines. The surgery was subsequently followed by chemotherapy. The cancer returned and she died in under 3 years. Her husband and minor daughter survived her.
The law firm that represented the family published that the case went to trail and the jury awarded the family a sum of $2.5 million. The award included the maximum of $350,000 allowed for pain and suffering under the law of the State where the physician practices. The rest of the award was for future lost wages. This claim is just one example of what may be the most frequent medical mistake concerning a delay in the diagnosis of colon cancer.
Too often physicians do not do a colonoscopy or send the person to a specialist when a person reports rectal bleeding or blood in the stool. Rather, these doctors simply assume that the symptom is the result of hemorrhoids. This is especially typical if the individual is less than 50 years old.
When a matter such as that described above happens and the individual passes away because the cancer progressed to the point of not being curable as a result of the delay in diagnosis the surviving family might 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
