Family And Physicians Reach Settlement For $2.0 Million For Medical Mistake Responsible For Wrongful Death Of 46 Year Old Woman
By: J. Hernandez
Submitted: 2010-10-13 00:11:07 | Word Count: 628
While a colonoscopy is normally recommended as a screening proceedure for colorectal cancer for people who are 50 years old and older, physicians generally acknowledge that a patient's complaints of rectal bleeding warrant performing a colonoscopy regardless of the age of the patient. Whether a colonoscopy or a sigmoidoscopy is actually performed, however, if poor preparation or an obstruction prevent the doctor to fully explore the area, doctors normally suggestedthat it ought to be repeated. Below we examine a wrongful death matter which alleged that both a family practicioner and a gastroenterologist failed to follow these practices.
Look at the following scenario: a woman at forty six years of age informs her primary care physician that she has been experiencing constipation and observing rectal bleeding for more than a month. The following month she informs the doctor that her problems have not resolved. Her doctor referred her for a sigmoidoscopy. She was seen the next month by a gastroenterologist. The gastroenterologist recorded that the referral was because of bleeding and constipation. The gastroenterologsit could have done a full colonoscopy but decided to just do a sigmoidoscopy as requested by the primary care physician. A sigmoidoscopy limits the portion of the colon that can be inspected to only the first 40 cm from the anus. Here, even that part was, as per the gastroenterologist's own notes, not well visualized. The gastroenterologist failed to recommend that the procedure be done again so as to adequately visualize the sigmoid.
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The woman saw her physician for two yearly physicals afterward and each time informed him that she kept experiencing problems with constipation. During this time the physician spoke with the patient's daughter and although he told her he would consider a colonoscopy sometime in the future he proposed that the patient had irritable bowel syndrome and simply should eat more fiber. Later on he told the patient to start taking lactulose. Ultimately, as a physical examination showed abdominal tenderness and a structure suggestive of stool in the colon, the doctor prescribed testing her thyroid and finally sent her for a colonoscopy.
Around 2 weeks afterward, the woman ended up in the emergency room because she developed pain and vomiting as she was prepping for a colonoscopy. The emergency room physician determined that she had a distended abdomen and could hear hyperactive bowel sounds. She also had abdominal tenderness, mainly on the lower left. Because of these symptoms the hospital physician ordered a CT scan. The scan found a mass in the sigmoid with metastasis. After 2 weeks, she underwent surgery to eliminate the 4.2 cm mass. The surgeon determined that her cancer had metastasized throughout various organs. She started chemotherapy for advanced colorectal cancer. The woman did not survive. She passed away a bit over four months following her surgery.
Her family filed a wrongful death case against her primary care physician and the gastroenterologist. The law firm that represented the family was able to resolve the matter with a settlement for $2.0 million on behalf of the family. The law restricts the time you have to file a wrongful death claim so if a family member died of advanced cancer and you think they were the victim of medical malpractice you should contact a lawyer without delay to establish whether you may have a valid case.
Author Resource:-
Joseph Hernandez is an Attorney accepting medical malpractice cases. You can learn more about cases involving advanced colon cancer and other cancers including
prostate cancer by visiting the websites
