subject: Doctors Agree To Settle Lawsuit For $825,000 With Family Of Man Who Died Of Advanced Colon Cancer [print this page] It is very difficult things for people to understand is the thought that several physicians may, over the course of a number of years, misdiagnose a family members cancer. It is even more difficult to understand how specialists can fail to find the cancer. But this does occur. See, for example, the following documented lawsuit.
The patient, a husband and father of three children, started seeing the defendant doctor when he was 48 years old. When the patient turned fifty eight, the physician finally did a sigmoidoscoy. The physician noted that the sigmoidoscopy uncovered that the man had a ridge and that it was bleeding. As a consequence of this finding, the physician sent the man to a second physician who in turn also performed a sigmoidoscopy. This doctor also detected the ridge and biopsied it. Seven months later this second physician performed a full colonoscopy which found a polyploid ring measuring roughly 2 cm. A part of this polyp was taken out and cauterized. Several samples of the polyp were taken. A biopsy of the specimens revealed atypical cells and concluded that it was not clear whether the entire polyp had been extracted.
The next year this second doctor did a barium enema. The doctor noted the results as normal except for minor diverticulosis. The doctor advised that the man return for a follow-up colonoscopy in 3 years. The doctor failed to make any other recommendations.
Two years later the man went to see a third doctor and asked for another sigmoidoscopy. This third physician documented inflammation and bleeding. But, this physician did not biopsy the area or perform any further evaluation or treatment of the inflamed area. Rather, this doctor suggested that the patient get another sigmoidoscopy in a few years.
The following year, the patient went back to third physician. This time the man complained of rectal bleeding. The physician did a rectal examination accompanied by an anoscopy but he failed to do any further evaluation even after the man again complained of rectal bleeding some months later that year. Following another year, the man complained of a few weeks of constipation and abdominal pain. The doctor recommended a dietary supplement and stool softener for the symptoms yet performed no more evaluations to determine the reason for these changes.
Just a short while later the man experienced extreme abdominal pain and took himself to the ER where it was found that he had blockage. Biopsies of the rectum area were suggestive of cancer. The man had another sigmoidoscopy a month later which confirmed the presence of cancer.
Due to the size and location of the cancer the man was started on chemotherapy and radiation therapy prior to surgery. Once in surgery his rectum was taken out and several tumors were found in his liver. After awhile, the liver tumors got larger and there was further metastasis to his lungs. The man subsequently died from the cancer.
The law firm that represented the family with their claim announced that the the family was able to recover $825,000 in a settlement with the doctors. This matter illustrates the value of close monitoring of patients with a history of symptoms and the importance of properly identifying the reason for those symptoms. Since cancer can spread and become incurable whe its diagnosis is held up, treatment and a correct and early diagnosis is crucial. Anything else can lead to a tragic outcome.
by: Joseph Hernandez
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