Doctor Might Be Sued For Medical Malpractice For Not Acting According To Colon Cancer Screening Guidelines
By: J. Hernandez
Submitted: 2010-10-20 19:19:37 | Word Count: 779
Colon cancer is the second major reason for deaths resulting from cancer. Every year, roughly forty eight thousand men and women will die because of colon cancer. Many of these deaths might be avoided with early detection and treatment by standard colon cancer testing in advance of when symtoms arise.
When the disease is detected as a small polyp in the course of a routine screening procedure, like a colonoscopy, the polyp might be able to be removed in the course of the colonoscopy without the need for the surgical removal of any portion of the colon. Once the polyp grows to the point where it turns cancerous and gets to Stage I or Stage II, the tumor and a section of the colon on both sides of the tumore is surgical taken out. The odds that the person will survive the cancer is over ninety percent for Stage 1 and seventy three percent for Stage II.
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In case the disease reaches a Stage 3, a colon resection is not enough and the person also needs to undergo chemotherapy. The relative 5-year survival rate is reduced to fifty three percent, depending on such variables as how many lymph nodes that show up positive for cancer.
Once the colon cancer reaches Stage 4, treatment may call for undergoing chemotherapy and possibly other drugs and even surgery on other organs. If the measurement and quantity of tumors in other organs (for example, the liver and lungs) are small enough, surgery to take out the cancer from those other organs may be the first treatment, followed by chemotherapy. Sometimes the dimensions or quantity of tumors in the other organs removes the possibility of surgery as a treatment.
If chemotherapy and other drugs are able to reduce the number and size of these tumors, surgery may at that point turn out to be a viable second form of treatment. Otherwise, chemotherapy and different drugs (perhaps through clinical trials) might for a time halt or reduce the ongoing progression of the cancer. With metastasis the individual's likelihood of surviving the cancer for greater than five years subsequent to diagnosis drops to around 8%.
The statistics are clear. The time frame when the colon cancer is detected and treated makes a dramatic difference. If diagnosed and treated early, the person has an excellent chance of surviving the disease. When detection and treatment is delayed, the chances start turning against the person so that if the colon cancer progresses to Stage III, the probability is nearly 50/50. And the chances decrease precipitously once the colon cancer metastasizes.
Yet, too frequently physicians do not suggest standard cancer testing to men and women who are asymptomatic. By the time the cancer is eventually diagnosed - sometimes due to the fact that the tumor has become so large that it is causing blockage, since the person has unexplained anemia that is getting progressively worse, or since the individual begins to detect other symptoms - the colon cancer is a Stage 3 or even a Stage 4. The person now confronts a much different prognosis than he or she would have if the cancer had been found early through routine screening tests.
Attorneys who handle cancer cases often classify this as a "loss of chance" of a better recovery. In other words, since the doctor failed to recommend that the individual have a routine screening test, the cancer is now considerably more advanced and the individual has a much reduced likelihood of outliving the cancer. The failure of a doctor to advise the person have screening options for colon cancer might constitute medical malpractice.
Contact a lawyer at once if you feel there was a delayed diagnosis of colon cancer because a doctor's failure to recommend routine colon cancer screening. This article is for general educational purposes only and should not be considered legal (or medical) advice. For any health concerns, contact a physician. Should you think you may have a medical malpractice claim contact an attorney immediately. A competent lawyer with experience in medical malpractice can assist determine if you have a claim for a delayed diagnosis colon cancer due to a failure on the part of a physician to recommend colon cancer screening. There is a time limit in cases like these so call a lawyer immediately.
Author Resource:-
Joseph Hernandez is an Attorney accepting medical malpractice cases and wrongful death cases. To learn about metastatic colon cancer and other cancer cases including prostate cancer visit the website
