Patient Discovers He Has Metastatic Prostate Cancer Following Years Of Physicians Not Doing A Follow Up Biopsy
By: J. Hernandez
Submitted: 2010-10-20 19:19:43 | Word Count: 667
Prostate cancer is a terrible disease. Although not 100% accurate there are diagnostic tests that assist doctors to verify when the cancer is present in a patient. But because of the possibility of false negatives (a negative test outcome while the patient in reality has cancer) doctors need to follow up and redo tests as appropriate when patient complaints and screening tests continue to indicate the possibility of cancer. The failure to do so may leave the doctor liable for malpractice.
In one recorded claim a patient told his primary care doctor that he was suffering from urinary frequency and burning. The physician started the patient on antibiotics and refered him to a urologist. The urologist conducted a cystoscopy which found that the individual had an enlarged prostate. The urologist additionally did a PSA blood test which came back a 16.3 (a level above a 4.0 is typically thought to be high). Consequently the urologist performed a biopsy two months later. The biopsy was read by a pathologist as benign.
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The following year the patient went back to the urologist. On this occasion the PSA blood test registered a 2.9 (normally considered to be in normal range). The urologist decided that the patient had BPH (a benign enlargement of the prostate). After 3 months the man went to the PCP with symptoms of fever and nocturia (needing to urinate during the night). The physician began him on a second round of antibiotics. A follow up urine culture registered negative. The PCP therefore referred him back to the urologist. The urologist did a PSA test which registered a 6.4 (again, high).
A biopsy analyzes parts of the prostate. Consequently, it is possible for a biopsy to miss the cancer. However, the urologist chose to rely on the prior year's biopsy and to not perform an additional one as a follow up. Rather, the urologist failed to follow up on the man's complaints and elevated PSA.
A year later the man returned to his family doctor. His issues continued to include nocturia. On physical examination the physician documented that the individual had a very enlarged prostate. But, the physician failed to order a PSA or re-refer him to a urologist. Regular blood testing 4 months afterwards showed that the male patient's PSA was at 7.4 Neither physician followed up in any way.
One more year goes by when the family doctor documented that the PSA level was 9.8 Again, no follow up or referral to a urologist. Yet another year and the patient continues to have problems with nocturia. On this occasion the PSA was 9.7 No follow up and no referral. Five years after the person's first complaints of urinary problems the family doctor again recorded a substantially enlarged prostate gland and a PSA level that had reached a 31. The doctor at last refered the patient back to the urologist.
The urologist confirmed that the patient's prostate was enlarged and put the man on antibiotics for (two weeksafter which he would do another PSA blood test. After the PSA test was done two weeks afterwards it recorded a level of 33. A biopsy was then at last done which found cancer every sample taken.
Testing subsequently uncovered that the man had prostate cancer which had spread to the lymph nodes, the liver and the bone. Regardless of a course of both hormone therapy and radiation therapy the man died around eighteen months subsequent to his diagnosis. The law firm that represented his family documented that the matter settled for $1,000,000.
Author Resource:-
Joseph Hernandez is an attorney accepting medical malpractice cases. You can learn about metastatic prostate cancer and other cancer matters including advanced breast cancer visit the websites
