In the intricate world of healthcare, medical professionals strive to provide the highest standard of car
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When a person goes to the doctor when suffering from pain, they expect the physician to figure out what is happening as quickly as possible. If the physician says that there is no cancer, the patient will not pursue treatment. Unfortunately, cancer misdiagnoses happen all the time, and when they do, you may need to file a malpractice lawsuit.
Misdiagnoses Are Increasingly Common
The American medical community has seen a recent upswing in misdiagnoses, which is a serious problem. The reasons for these misdiagnoses are numerous but hardly excusable. No matter how busy a doctor gets, they need to spend the proper time to diagnose a patient's problems. For example, a misdiagnosis of a cancerous tumor as a non-issue can cause real problems in a person's life.
That's because cancer requires very quick diagnoses that spot the tumor before it spreads too far in the body. Any delays — even of a few months — may allow a rampant cancer to move through the body in a way that makes more invasive and painful treatment options necessary. Some may even end up developing terminal cancer that would have been operable if it had been spotted earlier. Therefore, malpractice lawsuits may be necessary in this situation.
Proving This Type of Case
According to Nolo, patients trying to prove a misdiagnosis of cancer are often in a pretty tough spot. That's because they need to prove many different elements, including the existence of a doctor-patient relationship, negligence by the doctor, and that the negligence caused harm. This latter point is usually the hardest because the patient must show that a delayed diagnosis of their cancer allowed it to become more harmful.
Typically, the patient must have evidence that their cancer existed at the time that their doctor missed diagnosing it properly. This step requires testimony from other medical professionals that prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that there was cancer. Then, the patient must show that missing this diagnosis gave the tumor time to grow and caused suffering to the patient that deserves compensation.
This type of suffering involves extended treatment that would not have been taken if the doctor had caught the tumor earlier. It also includes pain caused by the tumor, lost wages due to recovery after surgery, and much more. The only positive of this situation is that a cancer patient shouldn't have any difficulty proving their suffering — this type of misdiagnosis is often the most likely to cause pain.
Contact a medical malpractice attorney for more information.
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