Physician To Pay Out $2.5 Million To Family Of Woman Who Passed Away Of Metastatic Colon Cancer Due to Seven Month Delay In Diagnosis
By: J. Hernandez
Submitted: 2010-08-31 12:58:51 | Word Count: 530
Less than one percent people diagnosed with colon cancer are under the age of thirty-five. But, given the lethal nature of the disease doctors generally acknowledge that the presence of rectal bleeding, even in an individual under thirty-five, should be followed by a colonoscopy to establish the source of the bleeding Just assuming that the blood is the result of hemorrhoids may constitute malpractice.
Take, for example, what took place in a documented lawsuit involving a woman who told her primary care physician that she had blood in her stool and experienced pain as she had bowel movements. She was only 24. The doctor, justwithout even doing an examination, told her to take a laxative after deciding that she had diarrhea and other bowel issues. She returned four months later claiming she had constipation, pain and problems sitting. This time the doctor finally examined her but assured her she had hemorrhoids. The physician recommended an enema. She saw that physician on two additional occassions and every time was told that her symptoms were due to hemorrhoids and she had nothing to be concerned with.
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She needed to be hurried to an emergency room complaining of extreme pain 7 months after her first trip to the family physician. They scheduled a colonoscopy and was found to have advanced colorectal cancer. The woman had surgery (which as a consequence of how far the cancer had advanced included not only taking out part of her colon, it also required removal of her uterus and part of the lower intestines). This was followed by chemotherapy. The cancer came back and the woman died in under 3 years. Her husband and minor daughter survived her.
The law firm that handled this claim revealed that a jury awarded the family a sum of $2.5 million. The amount included $350,000 the largest amount permitted for pain and suffering under the law of the State where the physician practices. The remainder of the award was for future lost wages. This lawsuit illustrates what is perhaps the most common medical mistake regarding a delay in the diagnosis of colon cancer.
Far too often doctors do not do a colonoscopy or send the patient to a specialist when a person reports rectal bleeding or blood in the stool. Instead, these doctors just assume that the blood is caused by hemorrhoids. This is particularly typical when the person is under fifty years old.
When a situation such as that described above occurs and the patient passes away for the reason that the cancer spread so far that a cure was no longer possible as a consequence 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 metastasized breast cancer by visiting the websites
