Doctor Pays Malpractice Claim For Not Informing Patient Of Abnormal Prostate Cancer Test Results

Men often have a scant understanding of prostate cancer

, their own chances for the cancer, and the ways in which they can figure out if they have prostate cancer. Many men have modest, if any, idea of the advantage of screening for prostate cancer or of the guidelines for when they should start testing, how frequently to test, and the meaning of screening test results. But, far too often, physicians diagnose the cancer only after it is past the early stages because of a lack of screening.

Delayed diagnosis of prostate cancer incidents are all too common. This article will examine the following pattern: the physician (1) orders a PSA blood test, (2) discovers that the individual has an elevated PSA level, yet (3) neither tells the patient of abnormal results (and what they indicate) nor orders diagnostic tests, for example a biopsy, to rule out prostate cancer. The claim below shows this problem.

In this reported claim a male patient found out he had prostate cancer after he followed up when told by his internist that he most likely had cancer. The issue in this case was that the doctor did not tell the patient that he might have cancer until the third year of elevated PSA test results. The year before the patients PSA level had increased to 13.6. Two years prior to that it had been at 8.0 Throughout these years the doctor did nothing to rule out prostate cancer as the source of these elevated readings and did not inform the patient. Further testing uncovered that by now he had advanced prostate cancer. A prostatectomy was no longer an option. Instead the man underwent radiation therapy and hormone therapy in an attempt to impede the further progression of the cancer. The law firm handling this matter reported that the claim went to mediation and settled in the amount of $600,000.

When they do nothing in the presence of abnormal test results and the patient later learns that he had prostate cancer and that the wait lead to it spreading outside the prostate gland therefore limiting treatment options and decreasing his likelihood of surviving the cancer, the individual might have a case for medical malpractice against the physician.

They should at least advise the patient that the results of the screening tests are abnormal and refer him to a urologist. In addition, the doctor can suggest diagnostic testing, for instance a biopsy.

This lawsuit illustrates a kind of mistake that can result in the delayed diagnosis of a patients prostate cancer. It arises when the physician actually follows the guidelines and screens male patients for prostate cancer but does not follow through when the test results are abnormal.

by: Joseph Hernandez

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