Why Ignoring Signs Of Colon Cancer May Lead To A Malpractice Claim
It is not unusual for a medical malpractice attorney to be contacted by a prospective client who begins by saying something similar to
, "A doctor kept telling me I just had hemorrhoids but now I have advanced colon cancer." What legal options does the patient have under these circumstances?
Doctors generally recommend that in case a person notices rectal bleeding or blood in the stool, testing should be done to make sure the patient does not have colon cancer. The test that is most commonly used to rule out colon cancer is called a colonoscopy. This involves using a flexible scope with a camera on the end to examine the inside of the colon. If growths (polyps or tumors) are discovered, they can be biopsied and perhaps removed during the procedure. The samples (biopsies) are then examined for the existence of cancer. If there is no cancer, then colon cancer can often be eliminated as a source of the blood. Regrettably, all too often, an individual's physician will simply attribute the blood to hemorrhoids without referring the individual to a gastroenterologist and without ordering any testing, for example, a colonoscopy, to rule out cancer.
Colon cancer progresses over time. As it advances it becomes more difficult to treat effectively. For example, when the disease is in stage 1 or stage 2, it is still contained inside the wall of the colon. Treatment for these stages normally involves surgery to remove the tumor and surrounding portions of the colon. Chemotherapy is frequently not part of the treatment of stage 1 and stage 2 unless it might be given to someone who is young as a preventative measure. With surgery, someone with stage 1 or stage 2 has a good likelihood of outliving the disease for at least five years after diagnosis. The relative 5-year survival rate is over ninety percent for stage I and seventy three percent for stage II.
By the time the cancer has spread outside the colon. At this stage treatment calls for both surgery and chemotherapy (possibly with other medications as well). The relative 5-year survival rate for stage 3 is 53%. If it gets to stage 4, the relative 5-year survival rate is reduced to approximately 8%. Treatments such as surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and other medications may or may not still be effective. When treatment stops being effective, the disease is fatal. About 48,000 individuals will die from colon cancer this year alone.
If the patient with rectal bleeding undergoes a colonoscopy and the tumor is found before it has spread to the lymph nodes or to other organs, it can often be taken out in the course of the colonoscopy if it is sufficiently small or by surgically extracting the part of the colon containing the tumor. So a delay in diagnosis and treatment that is long enough to allow the cancer to get an advanced stage. This means the patient will need to undergo additional treatments and will have a drastically reduced chance of living for at least five years beyond diagnosis. Depending on the laws of the jurisdiction in which the physician was responsible for the delay, this may give rise to a case for medical malpractice, or in the most extreme case, for wrongful death.
by: Joseph Hernandez
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