Cancer Misdiagnosis and Delay in Diagnosis

Cancer is a combination of diseases with many different causes and outcomes. A cancer can occur anywhere in the body because of an abnormal proliferation of cancerous cells. These cells can either be cured or they will lead to the death of the patient. Early detection is the key to improving a patient's survival rate. With the improvements in cancer treatment over the past 20 years, those with certain types of cancers have a dramatically improved chance of recovery if the cancers are detected and treated early. These cancers include breast cancer, lung cancer, colon cancer, and non-small cell cancers. There is little room for error when diagnosing cancer. If a doctor misdiagnoses cancer for another medical condition, or fails to diagnose the cancer at all, the results can be deadly. Without early detection and treatment, the cancer can quickly spread throughout the body, causing catastrophic complications, eventually resulting in death.

A delay in cancer diagnosis or a misdiagnosis of treatable cancers may be grounds for a medical malpractice or negligence lawsuit. If a doctor fails to detect and treat the cancer in the proper amount of time, or misdiagnoses the cancer, this can result in enormous suffering, and even death for the patient. The key to proving medical malpractice with cancer is proving that the doctor should have diagnosed the cancer at an earlier stage, or improper treatment decisions were made after the cancer was discovered. However, some cancers have a poor chance of recovery no matter what stage the cancer is detected. These types of cancers include pancreatic cancer, small-cell lung cancer, and ovarian cancer. In cases like this, an earlier diagnosis would likely not result in the ability to prevent these cancers from taking their disastrous course, so a medical malpractice claim would not be successful.

Each year cancer misdiagnoses and failure to diagnose cancer in time, leads to enormous suffering and wrongful deaths for thousands of American citizens. A misdiagnoses or improper diagnoses results in delayed treatment, the wrong treatment, or no treatment for the patient. When it comes to medical malpractice cases involving misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis of cancer, every patient's situation is unique, and each situation requires a unique examination of the laws that pertain to the case.

Dr. Bruce Fagel has extensive experience dealing with cancer misdiagnosis and delay in diagnosis cases. In addition to being a leading medical malpractice attorney, Dr. Fagel is also a medical doctor, and has over 10 years emergency room experience. This extensive combination of experience allows Bruce Fagel to probe medical records and understand if there is a case for medical malpractice. Visit cancer misdiagnosis and delay in diagnosis for more information.