Male Patient Sues Doctor Responsible For The Delayed Diagnosis Of His Cancer Until It Metastasized

This year approximately fourteen percent of the one hundred ninety three thousand

adult men identified as having prostate cancer will already have advanced prostate cancer by the time the cancer is detected. With screening, including digital examinations and PSA blood tests, many of these men might have been diagnosed before the cancer progressed to an advanced stage. A lapse of time until the cancer is advanced does not merely reduce the man's treatment options but also drastically reduces his chances of surviving the cancer. Look at the following published case to illustrate.

While doing a physical examination on a 56 year old male patient, a physician noted a small nodule on the left side of the prostate. The physician ordered a PSA test the results of which showed the level to be 3.1 - typically considered to be in the normal range. The physician did nothing else at the time. Almost 3 years passed. The physician again did a physical examination and records that the prostate is normal. This time, the doctor does not order a PSA test. The man saw by a different physician about 6 weeks later for an insurance mandated medical examination. This physician ordered the test which registered at 5.3 - high. The man then consulted with his regular doctor's practice and was told to come back so they can take their own PSA test. This test returned a 3.5 - in normal range. The physician told the patient not to worry and that no further action needed to be taken.

Again, nearly 3 years went by before the doctor next screened the patient. The doctor again records the nodule. The doctor then ordered a PSA test that came back at 4.7 - high. The doctor does not notify the man and does nothing further regarding these two abnormal test results. Nearly 2 years after the physical examination reveals that the prostate not only had a nodule, but was firm on the side of the nodule and was enlarged. The test at this point revealed that the level had risen to 14.1. On this occasion, the physician at last refers the patient to a Urologist who diagnoses the patient with stage 4 prostate cancer that had gotten to the bones around pubic area and the upper portion of his right leg.

A medical malpractice lawsuit followed in the process of which the physician stated that the existence of the nodule indicated an "abnormal" finding. The law firm that handled this matter reported that the lawsuit settled for $850,000. This sum included two hundred fifty thousand dollars for non-economic damages and two hundred fifty thousand dollars for the wife's future wrongful death claim - the maximum recoverable under the controlling law.

by: Joseph Hernandez

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