Diagnosed With Metastatic Colon Cancer? Was The Delay Due To Actions Of Your Doctor?
By: J. Hernandez
Submitted: 2010-11-13 14:45:42 | Word Count: 614
Consider the situation in which an individual reported seeing rectal bleeding to their doctor and was told by the physician that it was most likely due to hemorrhoids and there was nothing to be concerned about is eventually diagnosed colon cancer. Among the types of cases handled by a cancer lawyer are ones that concern colon cancer. One of the issues that most commonly arises is as a result of a physician having reassured an individual that the blood they detected in their stool was from hemorrhoids when in reality the patient actually has colon cancer. What legal options does the patient have in these circumstances?
Doctors typically advise that in case a patient has rectal bleeding or blood in the stool, testing needs to be conducted to exclude the chance of colon cancer. The test that is most commonly used to rule out colon cancer is called a colonoscopy. This involves using a flexible tube with a camera on the end to see the interior of the colon. If growths (polyps or tumors) are found, they can be sampled (by biopsy) and perhaps taken out during the procedure. The samples (biopsies) are then examined for the existence of cancer. If no cancer is found, then colon cancer can often be eliminated as the cause of the blood. However, all too often, an individual’s doctor will simply assume the blood is from hemorrhoids without referring the individual to a specialistand without conducting any testing, such as a colonoscopy, in order to make sure there is no cancer.
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Why is this such a critical mistake? To understand that let’s briefly look at the way cancer progresses. Colon cancer will kill approximately forty eight thousand individuals this year. Colon cancer becomes fatal when it grows and spreads outside of the colon getting into the bloodstream by way of the lymph nodes and taking hold in additional organs like the liver and the lungs. When the cancer gets to that point the person's options for treatments are restricted and the chances that the patient will outlive the cancer are substantially lessened. Treatments, which may include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and other drugs, may or may not eliminate the cancer.
If at some point treatment is no longer effective, the cancer becomes fatal. Yet it takes time for the cancer to reach that point. It typically starts as a small group of cells. Eventually these cells grow and make their way outside the colon where they then begin to spread and grow more.
If the patient with rectal bleeding gets a colonoscopy and the tumor is located before it has spread to the lymph nodes or to other organs, it can often be removed in the course of the colonoscopy if it is sufficiently small or by surgically extracting the part of the colon containing the tumor. So a delay in diagnosis and treatment that is sufficient to allow the cancer to get an advanced stage. When this is the case, the patient will have to undergo additional treatments and will have a greatly reduced chance of living for at least five years beyond diagnosis. Depending on the laws of the jurisdiction in which the doctor caused the delay, this may give rise to a case for medical malpractice, or in the most severe case, for wrongful death.
Author Resource:-
Joseph Hernandez is an Attorney accepting medical malpractice cases and wrongful death cases. You can learn more about colon cancer metastasis and other cancer cases including breast cancer visit the website
