Man Learns He Has Metastatic Prostate Cancer After Doctor Did Not Complete Testing He Requested
By: J. Hernandez
Submitted: 2010-11-01 22:28:02 | Word Count: 666
Prostate cancer strikes African-American men earlier and frequently more aggressively from other men. Men of African-American descent are at greater risk of developing prostate cancer at a younger age. Because of this, physicians mostly concur that doctors ought to go over prostate cancer screening wiith males of African-American descent once the man turns forty-five. A physician who does not comply with the guidelines for an African-American male patient may be liable if it is later discovered that he had prostate cancer which spread due to the doctor's failure to tell him about screening tests.
Aside from standard screening for cancer, physicians also should really be able to recognize and follow up in the event that a patient reports symptoms suspicious for possible cancer. Doctors also ought to either perform screening testing requested by a patient or make it clear to him that they will not perform the test and that the patient will have to see another physician if he still wishes to be screened. For example, in a reported lawsuit the patient was an African-American man, age 41, who requested to be tested for prostate cancer. The man requested for the screening test after being part of a campaign to increase awareness concerning the risk middle-aged African-American men face when it comes to prostate cancer.
[ advertisement ]
There are two tests generally employed to screen for prostate cancer. They are both done as they look for different indicators. The first is a physical examination of the prostate gland. The other is a blood test that measures the PSA level in the patient's blood stream. As per the patient's request the physician conducted a physical examination of the prostate. The physician did not discover any palpable abnormalities on the prostate. The physician then ordered blood tests. The tests, however, did not include a PSA test. The patient thought a PSA test was ordered and simply believed the results were normal given that he did not hear anything further about it. The patient saw the doctor again two years later. The doctor again did not order a PSA test. This time the doctor did not even perform a digital examination.
By performing a physical examination of the prostate and ordering blood tests the physician caused a situation in which the patient thought that he had been properly screened for prostate cancer and that the results had came back normal indicating nothing suspicious for cancer. Undoubtedly the patient believed that the lack of any communication about the results to indicate that the results must have been normal. This put him at ease with respect to whatever worries prompted him to ask for the testing.
Move forward to later that same year. The patient goes back to the same medical practice but is seen by a different physician. This doctor both completed a digital examination and order a PSA test. The outcome - the patient had stage 4 prostate cancer which had spread to the bone. Due to the fact that the patient was now approaching 45 and under the guidelines the physician would typically only at this time have at a minimum had a conversation about screening. In this instance, though, the individual had specifically requested to be screened earlier and the actions of the doctor had led him to expect he had been.
The law firm that represented the victim in this lawsuit took it to trial and achieved a $2.75 Million jury verdict. The defendants appealed. As the appeal was pending the parties reached a settlement for an undisclosed amount that was less than the original verdict. The Appeals Court subsequently denied the appeal.
Author Resource:-
Joseph Hernandez is an attorney accepting cancer malpractice cases. To learn about prostate cancer and other cancer matters including breast cancer visit the websites
