When Doctors Fail To Take Action After PSA Results Reveal The Possibility Of Prostate Cancer

When Doctors Fail To Take Action After PSA Results Reveal The Possibility Of Prostate Cancer

Male patients are likely to possess a bad awareness of prostate cancer, their own risk for the cancer, and the ways in which they can figure out if they have prostate cancer. Many men have minimal, if any, idea of the value of testing for prostate cancer or of the guidelines for when to start testing, how frequently to test, and the meaning of screening test results. However, far too often, physicians diagnose the cancer only after it is past the early stages on account of deficient of screening.

There are several different factors that can lead to a delayed diagnosis. This article will examine the following pattern: the doctor (1) orders a PSA blood test, (2) learns that the patient has a high PSA level, but (3) does not notify the patient, does not refer the patient to a specialist, and fails to get a biopsy to find out whether the elevated PSA is because of prostate cancer. Examine the following case, for example:

In this reported case a man found out he had prostate cancer after he followed up when advised by his internist that he probably had cancer. The issue in this case was that the doctor did not inform the patient that he could have cancer until the third year of raised PSA test results. The year before the patient's PSA level had risen to 13.6. Two years prior to that it had been at 8.0 During these years the physician did nothing to rule out prostate cancer as the cause of these high readings and did not inform the patient. More testing revealed that by now the patient had metastatic prostate cancer. A prostatectomy was now not a choice. Treating doctors instead advised radiation therapy and hormone therapy. Neither of these would cure the cancer but they might obstruct the cancer's progress and further spread. The law firm that handled this matter reported that they took the lawsuit to mediation where they achieved a settlement of $600,000.

But not following up after noting abnormal test results brings about a situation in which those patients who do in fact have prostate cancer might not find out they have it until it has spread outside the prostate, restricting the patient's choices for treatment, and substantially decreasing the possibility that the patient will be able to survive the cancer.

At a minimum a physician who notes abnormal prostate cancer screening results ought to tell the patient of the chance that he may have prostate cancer and refer the patient to a urologist. The physician can also advise diagnostic testing, for example a biopsy so as to figure out if the abnormal screening test results are from prostate cancer.

This claim illustrates a type of mistake that can result in the delayed diagnosis of a patient's prostate cancer. It happens when the doctor actually follows the guidelines and screens male patients for prostate cancer but does not follow through when the test results are abnormal.

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