Physician Pays Out $875,000 For Missing Patient’s Cancer During Multiple Colonoscopies

Men and women with a family history of colon cancer and also individuals with symptoms are at higher risk of developing colon cancer. If an individual both has a family history and also has complaints of symptoms including rectal bleeding, doctors typically agree that a colonoscopy is necessary to find out whether the person has colon cancer or rule it out. Typically, doctors advise that even those who are not at higher risk nonetheless get screened beginning at age fifty. The screening test frequently consists of a colonoscopy.

However for the results of a colonoscopy to be reliable it must be complete. It must examine the total span of the colon. When obstructions or inadequate preparation render incomplete visualization of parts of the colon, the patient ought to be told and the physician ought to recommend to the individual that the colonoscopy ought to be done again or an alternative, for example a virtual colonoscopy, be considered. A failure to do so could be responsible for a missed cancer which can grow and progress to an advanced stage prior to being found.

Look at, as an example, one published claim involving a 44 year old woman who passed away from advanced colon cancer. Consider her medical history. She had a family history of colon cancer. The woman underwent 3 colonoscopies over 6 years. In that time the woman reported that she observed rectal bleeding and abdominal pain numerous times. At least once the woman's blood tests further exhibited that she was anemic. The three are potential symptoms of colon cancer.

The paperwork from two of the colonoscopies demonstrated that the visualization was poor of the ascending colon and cecum as the scope could not be passed beyond the transverse colon. Sill, the doctor who performed the three colonoscopies and followed the patient during this time continued indicating to her that her symptoms were because of hemorrhoids.

She was ultimately diagnosed with colon cancer when her tumor was detected as she was undergoing exploratory surgery to determine the reson for her problems. A significant part of her intestines was taken out as a consequence of cancer. She was additionally treated with chemotherapy but she eventually passed away from the cancer. Due to the physician's failure to follow up on her symptoms in light of 2 incomplete colonoscopies the woman’s surviving family pursued a malpractice case. The law firm handled the matter was able to publisize that they recovered $875,000 for the family.

Physicians use diagnostic tests as a way to discover or exclude certain diseases. For example, the colonoscopy is used to find or exclude colon cancer however the result of the test is only as good as the accuracy with which the test was carried out. For the procedure a doctor inserts a scope to see the interior of the colon to check whether there are polyps or tumors in the colon{.|

}If the whole colon is not visualized, as in the case above, a physician should not rely on it to exclude cancer. If the patient does have cancer this may lead to a delay in diagnosis that gives the cancer time to grow and progress to an uncurable stage. In a situation like that the doctor who relied on an incomplete result might be liable under a medical malpractice claim.

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Joseph Hernandez is an Attorney accepting medical malpractice cases. To learn more about advanced colon cancer cases request a free consultation with an attorney experienced in cancer malpractice at the website

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