Physician Reaches Settlement In Legal Case After Not Notifying Patient About Abonrmal PSA Test Results
By: J. Hernandez
Submitted: 2010-08-25 11:15:58 | Word Count: 531
This year an estimated 14% of the one hundred ninety three thousand adult men who learn they have prostate cancer will already have advanced prostate cancer by the time the cancer is detected. With routine testing before the development of symptoms, including digital examinations and PSA blood tests, a number of these individuals might have been diagnosed when their cancer was in the early stages. A lapse of time until the cancer is advanced does not merely reduce the man's treatment options but also dramatically decreases his chances of surviving the cancer. Consider the following reported case to illustrate.
While performing a physical examination on a 56 year old male patient, a doctor noted a small nodule on the left side of the prostate. The doctor ordered a PSA test the results of which showed the level to be 3.1 - typically considered to be in the normal range. The physician took no further action at the time. Almost 3 years passed. The doctor once more performed a physical examination and documents that the prostate is normal. This time, the doctor does not order a PSA test. The individual consulted with by a second physician about 6 weeks later for an insurance mandated medical examination. This physician ordered a PSA test which comes back at 5.3. This is considered high. The patient then consulted with his regular physician's practice and was told to come back for them to take their own PSA test. This test came back a 3.5 - in normal range. The doctor told the patient not to worry and that nothing else needed to be done.
[ advertisement ]
Once more, nearly three years went by before the doctor next screened the patient. The doctor again records the nodule. The doctor then ordered a PSA test that registered at 4.7 - elevated. The doctor does not tell the man and does nothing further regarding these 2 abnormal test results. Nearly two years after the physical examination reveals that the prostate not only had a nodule, but was firm on the side of the nodule and was enlarged. The PSA test at this point shows the level at 14.1. On this occasion, the doctor at last refers the patient to a Urologist who diagnoses the patient with metastatic prostate cancer that had reached the bones in his pubic area and the top part of his right leg.
A medical malpractice lawsuit followed during which the doctor stated that the existence of the nodule indicated an "abnormal" finding. The law firm that represented the man and his wife reported that the case settled for a total sum of $850,000. This amount incorporated $250,000 for non-economic damages and $250,000 for the wife's future wrongful death claim. This is the top amount that can be recovered for those claims under the controlling law.
Author Resource:-
Joseph Hernandez is an attorney accepting cancer malpractice cases. To learn about prostatecancer and other cancer matters including advanced breast cancer visit the websites
