Woman In Her 50s Not Screened By Her Physicans Died Of Advanced Colon Cancer
By: J. Hernandez
Submitted: 2010-12-15 02:50:28 | Word Count: 731
The appropriateness screening even asymptomatic men and women for colon cancer when they are 50 or older and for testing patients who display certain symptoms like blood in the stool is commonly recognized within the medical community. Not doing so may end up in a holdup in the detection of colon cancer which in turn may allow the cancer to spread to other organs. Below we study a published lawsuit involving a woman in her fifties whose doctors not only failed to screen her at the point she did not have any symptoms but continued to not test her when she started having significant symptoms.
Consider a lawsuit that arose from the following situation: a woman saw her family doctor from the time she was 50 years old to the time she was 55. In that period of time her doctor saw her for obesity, a hernia as well as hypertension. At no time however did her physician ever even suggest that she get screening for colon cancer.
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By the time she turned fifty five she was experienced vomiting as well as diarrhea with blood noticeably visible in her stool. She took herself to the ER where she was told she had gastroenteritis. The woman followed up with her physician a few days later who made a note of the fact that she now had up to three bowel movements per day all of which had a blood. This physician suggested a wait-and-see approach and felt that she would need a lower G.I. endoscopy if her situation did not improve. The physician's differential diagnosis was for colitis. The doctor apparently never considered cancer as part of the differential diagnoses. A year afterwards she once more saw this medical doctor and reported having abdominal issues and at least fifty pounds of unexplained weight loss. The doctor decided that her weight-loss was the consequence of a change in her diet and regardless that she had a background of blood in her stools that physician again failed to order or perform any tests to rule out colon cancer.
A month later the woman once more went to the hospital with complaints of abdominal pain and ongoing diarrhea and by now there would be blood present every time she vomited. There was also a change in the color of her stool which had become dark brown. Lab analysis of a stool sample showed that there was blood in the stool.. The doctor at the ER diagnosed her as having a gastrointestinal bleeding. The ER doctor had her get an x-ray which revealed a partial blockage of the bowel. At this point she was admitted to the hospital. Additional testing followed. Blood tests then disclosed that she might have colon cancer.
At first a gastroenterologist performed an upper G.I. endoscopy and obtained several biopsies. This gastroenterologist also failed to perform a colonoscopy. It was only late when a covering doctor at the hospital noted that her history was suspicious of cancer and that additional testing was required that a sigmoidoscopy was ultimately performed about two weeks later. The sigmoidoscopy revealed a large blockage and a follow-up CAT scan revealed a large tumor. During surgery it was discovered that her cancer had already metastasized to both her uterus and to her bladder. Moreover the pathology report found the presence of cancer in more than ten lymph nodes. She had stage IV colon cancer.
She began treatment with chemotherapy but after experiencing intolerance for the chemotherapy in addition to bowel obstructions and even renal failure, the woman lost her battle with the cancer less than a year later. She was just 58 years old. She was married and had two children both of whom were adults. Her family filed a claim against the physicians for the delay in the diagnosis of her cancer. The law firm that represented the family in this matter published that they were able to obtain a settlement in the matter for $950,000 on behalf of the family.
Author Resource:-
Joseph Hernandez is an Attorney accepting delayed diagnosis cases. For more information on colon cancer and other cancer matters including breast cancer by visiting the websites
