A
patient may be harmed by a physician's or hospital's failure to
diagnose cancer in a timely fashion. Our office handles medical
malpractice case dealing with failure to diagnose lung cancer and other
cancers. Failure to diagnose lung cancer cases typically involve
three scenarios:
1. Medical Malpractice, Failure to Take a Chest X-Ray
We start with the proposition that there is no overall duty of a physician to take a chest-ray of a smoker. Current medical practice has rejected the notion of x-rays for screening purposes, even for high risk individuals such as a pack a day smoker. Frequently however, a patient will present with symptoms of lung cancer together with a high-risk profile. The following are among the symptoms of lung cancer:
Thus, a typical case would note the patient's symptoms, smoking history, and suggest that the doctor's failure to take a chest x-ray was negligence which reduced the patient's chances for long-term survival with the disease. (The different stages and types of non-small and small lung cancer are discussed in our book A Complete Guide to Lung Cancer).
2. Chest X-ray Misinterpreted A second, perhaps more frequent scenario occurs when a chest x-ray is taken, but misinterpreted. Chest x-rays are difficult to read and require more than a fair amount of skill to accurately interpret. Yet sadly, many internists, general physicians and pulmonologists read the x-rays on their own, without seeking a professional review by a radiologist skilled in the area. When that one cm tumor, but a faint line on an x-ray is missed and treatment is delayed, the patient's chances for long-term survival have been compromised.
3. Lack of Follow-up Closely related to 2 is the failure to obtain necessary follow-up. Perhaps the x-ray, even as interpreted by the radiologist is vague. Exactly what a spot or shadow represents can be unclear. Ct Scan and to some extent MRI are far more reliable means of diagnosis than the simple chest x-ray. When the physician mistakenly diagnoses emphysema instead of cancer, and fails to obtain the necessary follow-up tests, there may be medical malpractice.
What is Medical Malpractice
Medical malpractice is the failure to comply with the standard of care of the reasonably prudent physician in the same area of work or specialization. A doctor does not have to be perfect; and he cannot be held liable where he exercises judgment choosing between two accepted courses of action or procedure. However, where he fails to perform his duties with the same degree of competence as the average physician in his area, and the patient suffers injury as a result, a claim can be brought. Assessment of a medical malpractice claims requires not only a lawyer's review, but the assessment of another physician
FURTHER INFORMATION
To review our book, A Complete Guide to
Lung Cancer, go to lungcancerbook.htm Detailed excerpts from the upcoming book including
lung cancer staging systems, non-small cell and small cell cancers, types of surgery,
survival rates, chemotherapy and radiation, other treatments, different types of surgery,
smoking and cancer, organizations involved with lung cancer. Alternatively, go
to individual topics as follows,
Chapter 1-2 lungcanceroverview.htm how cancer develops,
staging, different types of lung
cancer and differences between
non-small cell and small cell lung cancer.
Chapter 4
nonsmallcelllungcancer.htm Non-Small
Cell lung cancer, treatment categorized by stage, chemotherapy, radiation, prognosis categorized by stage,
Chapter 5 smallcelllungcancer.htm
(Small Cell lung
cancer, treatment, staging, metastasis, from A Complete Guide to Lung Cancer)
Other Sources
medical malpractice and standard of care.com (a journal discussing medical malpractice standards of care including failure to diagnose cancer)
http://medscape.com/ (contains a list of top 10 medical malpractice claims by frequency, number 2, failure to diagnose cancer).
Order The Lung Cancer Newsletter, Newsletter a detailed quarterly newsletter devoted solely to recent developments in lung cancer treatment and diagnosis, get information about the latest medical research on treatments for lung cancer, chemotherapy, incidence of lung cancer. Includes coverage about interferon treatments, radiation for small cell lung cancer and ratings of hospitals around the country. The cost of the newsletter is $90.00 and excerpts from a sample issue are on the webpage.
How to contact Howard Gutman Telephone 973-257-9400, fax, 973-257-9128, 1259 Route 46, Parsippany, New Jersey 07054, Howian@aol.com (initial consultations free, legal cases handled on contingency, with legal fee charged only after settlement)
keywords: medical malpractice, failure to diagnose cancer, negligence, malpractice, standard of care, cancer medical malpractice, New Jersey lawyer, cancer medical malpractice.