While A Diagnosis of Prostate Cancer Metastasis Was Preventable
By: J. Hernandez
Submitted: 2010-11-18 18:21:58 | Word Count: 1002
Envision learning that you have prostate cancer. That's not easy because "cancer" is a word that brings with it dread. Still perhaps, you tell yourself, possibly it is not that bad. Maybe we detected it before it spread and with the right treatment I'll survive it.
Still it gets worse. Envision then discovering that is too late for that. The cancer has already metastasized to other areas of your body. A cure is hence no longer a possibility. Treatment will at most slow down the progress of the disease. Eventually, the treatment will stop working
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You probably next ask yourself, "Why me?" "Was it just poor luck?" And then you probably ask "How could this have been avoided?" "Was there something I might have changed that would have averted what now is an incurable disease?"
But it does not end there. Envision at this point finding out that your physician, the individual you trusted to maintain you healthy and to alert you of any possible health problems, had information that you were at risk of having prostate cancer. Imagine finding out that your physician had this information for at least a year before you were told you had cancer. And picture discovering that if your doctor had informed you when it was first available your cancer could have been diagnosed at a time when it was still contained within the prostate gland and could have been cured, could have been eliminated with proper treatment.
Do you believe that such a thing could not happen to you? Well, look at what happened to the men involved in the following situations:
Case:
Over a 3 year time frame an internist failed to tell his patient that the results of blood tests revealed that the patient's PSA level was not only high it was also rising. When the doctor ultimately told the individual about the abnormal test results the result was a diagnosis of metastatic prostate cancer. The only options available for treatment then were radiation therapy and hormone therapy - applied in an attempt to slow the cancer's growth and spread.
Case:
Not only did the doctor in this case not tell his patient his PSA level had been abnormal and rising, the physician in fact told him that the test results were normal. The patient learned he had cancer of the prostate only after he consulted with a urologist at the urging of a family member. The diagnosis - prostate cancer that had spread to the seminal vesicles.
Case:
A family doctor conducted a digital examination of the patient's prostate gland and found that his prostate gland had a hardened area. The physician failed to inform the man. The doctor did not refer the patient to a urologist for a consult. The physician also failed to order a biopsy to discover if the hardened area was cancerous or benign. When the patient eventually discovered the cancer it had already metastasized to other parts of his body.
Case:
The patient has high PSA levels for more than 2 years. But, his doctor failed to let him know for that whole period of time. At the time the individual was ultimately told he had prostate cancer he attempted surgery in the hopes that the cancer had not spread beyond the prostate and that surgery could remove the cancer. He also underwent months of hormonal therapy. And then post-surgical PSA levels found that there was still cancer present in his body.
There were law firms that represented the patients and families in each of the matters discussed above. The law firms that handled these cases announced being able to obtain compensation for the patients and their families in amounts that ranged from $400,000 to $1,500,000.
Matters like the preceding take place all too frequently. Whether the doctors do not review the results of the tests, whether they take the position that there is no need to take action even though the PSA is elevated or a nodule of a certain size is detected in the prostate, or whether they simply do not understand the guidelines and the standard of care for the action that is appropriate when screening results are abnormal, these physicians cause a delay that leads to the growth and spread of the cancer.
Some physicians do not believe that there is any advantage to screening men for prostate cancer (or do not understand the guidelines) and either simply do not screen their male patients or advise them against it. Other physicians do not check the results of screening tests. Yet other physicians fail to follow up on an abnormal screening test result and not order a biopsy or refer the patient to a specialist. The result is often tragic: an avoidable death from a cancer that could have been eliminated if detected while in the early stages.
What if you were the patient who got that news. You would likely fight the cancer as hard and as long as you can. Imagine being his spouse or life-partner. Imagine being his son or daughter. Imagine being his father or mother. You help him fight the cancer and you offer him all the love and support you can. You would help him fight the cancer and you offer him all the love and support you had to give.
Perhaps you might choose to bring a claim for medical malpractice to help protect your family's future. And you might hope that if compelled to confront the error and to incur a cost for it, possibly, just possibly, the doctor will adjust the way he or she treats other patients in the future so that this tragedy will not occur again.
Author Resource:-
Joseph Hernandez is an attorney accepting cancer cases. Find more information about prostate cancer and other cancer matters including breast cancer visit the websites
