The two most common mistakes doctors make that delay diagnosing breast cancer are: misdiagnosing a lump in the breast as a cyst and misreading a mammogram. If your doctor committed either of these mistakes and that resulted in a delay in the diagnosis of your cancer until it was at an advanced stage, you may have a medical malpractice claim against that doctor.
Being told by your doctor that you just have fibrocystic breast changes and there is no need to worry about the lump in your breast can sound reassuring. But unless the doctor conducts the appropriate diagnostic procedures to rule out breast cancer, you may not discover that you have it until it is too late. If this happens, you may have a legal claim of medical malpractice against that doctor.
Some doctors take a “watchful waiting” approach to elevated PSA (prostate specific antigen) levels, monitoring the PSA over the course of months or even years, before recommending a biopsy to rule out prostate cancer. If the cancer is not detected until it is no longer curable, the doctor may have committed medical malpractice and the patient may have a legal claim against that doctor.
Being told by your doctor that you just have hemorrhoids and there is no need to worry about the blood in your stool can be very reassuring. But unless the doctor has ruled out the possibility of colon cancer, you may not discover that you have it until it is too late. If this happens, the doctor may have committed medical malpractice and the patient may have a legal claim against that doctor.
Breast cancer will take the lives of over 40,000 women in the U.S. this year. Many of these deaths could have been prevented if the breast cancer had been detected early through routine screening. Tragically, some doctors fail to recommend routine breast cancer screening to their female patients and fail to follow up on abnormal test results. This may result in a medical malpractice claim.
Blood in the stool and rectal bleeding can be symptoms of colon cancer. Some doctors fail to rule out colon cancer and diagnose such complaints as resulting from hemorrhoids. Tragically, in some of these cases, the patient ends up diagnosed one or two years later with advanced colon cancer. Under these circumstances, the patient may have a claim for medical malpractice.
Prostate cancer will kill approximately 29,000 men in the U.S. this year. Many of these deaths could have been prevented if the prostate cancer had been detected early through routine screening. Tragically, some doctors fail to recommend routine prostate cancer screening to their male patients and fail to follow up on abnormal test results. This may constitute medical malpractice.
Group B Strep can be transmitted from mother to infant during vaginal delivery resulting in permanent injury or even death to the infant. Up to 85 percent of such cases can be prevented. Yet, every year a number of infants will become infected with Group B Strep because of a doctor’s failure to screen and treat the mother for Group B Strep. This may result in a medical malpractice claim.
Approximately 48,000 people will die in the U.S. from colon cancer this year. Many of these deaths could have been prevented with early detection and treatment through routine colon cancer screening. Tragically, some doctors fail to recommend routine colon cancer screening to their patients. This may result in a medical malpractice claim.
Nowadays, there is a new field in nursing wherein medical and legal issues are combined. This profession is known as legal nursing consultation.