Physician's Failure To Follow Colon Cancer Screening Recommendations And Malpractice Claims

The second greatest number of cancer fatalities is from colon cancer.

. Every year, approximately forty eight thousand people will die because of colon cancer. Many of these deaths might be avoided with early detection and treatment by standard colon cancer screening before symtoms arise.

When the disease is located while it is still a small polyp in the course of a routine screening test, such as a colonoscopy, the polyp can ordinarily be removed in the course of the colonoscopy without the requirement for the surgical removal of any portion of the colon. Once the polyp grows to the point where it becomes cancerous and gets to Stage I or Stage II, the tumor and a section of the colon on each side is surgical removed. The likelihood that the person will survive the cancer is over ninety percent for Stage 1 and seventy three percent for Stage II.

When the disease advances to Stage 3, surgery is not enough and the patient also needs to undergo chemotherapy. The relative 5-year survival rate is reduced to fifty three percent, depending on such variables as the quantity of lymph nodes that have cancer.

As soon as the colon cancer reaches Stage IV, treatment may necessitate the use of chemotherapy and possibly additional drugs as well as surgery on other organs. If the size and number of tumors in different organs (such as the liver and lungs) are sufficiently few, surgery to eliminate the cancer from those other organs might be the first treatment, followed by chemotherapy. Sometimes the size or number of tumors in the different organs eliminates the choice of surgery as part of the treatment.

If chemotherapy and other drugs can reduce the quantity and size of these tumors, surgery may then become an option as the follow up treatment. Otherwise, chemotherapy and different drugs (possibly through clinical trials) may for a time stop or cut down the continued progression of the cancer. With metastasis the individual's possibility of surviving the cancer for greater than 5 years after diagnosis falls to around eight percent.

As the relative 5-year survival rates show, the time frame when the cancer is detected and treated makes a significant difference. If found and treated early, the patient has an excellent chance of outliving the cancer. As diagnosis and treatment is delayed, the probability starts turning against the person so that once the colon cancer reaches Stage 3, the percentage is nearly even. And the likelihood declines greatly when the colon cancer gets to Stage 4.

But, too frequently doctors do not suggest standard cancer screening to their patients. By the time the cancer is ultimately found - many times because the tumor has grown so large that it is resulting in blockage, since the individual is anemic and it is getting progressively worse, or because the individual starts to detect other symptoms - the cancer is a Stage 3 or even a Stage 4. The patient now confronts a very different prognosis than if the cancer had been detected early by standard screening.

Attorneys who handle cancer cases often classify this as a "loss of chance" of a better recovery. That is to say, because the doctor did not recommend that the person undergo routine screening test, the cancer is now much more advanced and the patient faces a much lower likelihood of outliving the cancer. The failure of a doctor to advise the person have screening options for colon cancer may constitute medical malpractice.

Contact a lawyer right away should you think there was a delayed diagnosis of colon cancer because a physician's not suggesting routine colon cancer screening. This article is for general educational uses only and is not intended to be legal (or medical) advice. For any health issues your should consult with a doctor. Should you think you may have a medical malpractice case you should seek professional legal counsel without delay. A competent lawyer with experience in medical malpractice can help you determine whether you have a claim for a delay in the diagnosis of colon cancer as a result of a failure on the part of a physician to recommend colon cancer screening. There is a time limit in cases like these so call a lawyer immediately.

by: Joseph Hernandez

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