Physician's Alleged Malpractice Over 3 Colonoscopies Ends In Settlement Of Lawsuit

Men and women with a family background of colon cancer as well as men and women exhibiting symptoms are at greater risk of developing colon cancer. If someone both has a family history and also has symptoms like rectal bleeding, doctors typically concur that a colonoscopy is necessary in order to check if the individual has colon cancer or exclude it. Ordinarily, doctors advise that even those who are not at increased risk nonetheless undergo screening starting at age 50. Screening is frequently done by of a colonoscopy.

Yet for the results of a colonoscopy to be reliable it needs to be complete. It needs to check out the full length of the colon. Any time obstructions or inadequate preparation yield incomplete visualization of areas of the colon, the individual should be informed and the physician ought to advise the person that the colonoscopy should be done again or a different option, like a virtual colonoscopy, be considered. A failure to do so might be responsible for an overlooked tumor which can grow and progress to an advanced stage before it is detected.

This is what happened in one published case about 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 three colonoscopies throughout a period of six years. During that period, the woman reported that she suffered rectal bleeding and abdominal pain frequently. At a minimum, on one occasion the woman's blood tests further exhibited that she had anemia. The 3 are possible symptoms of colon cancer.

The paperwork from 2 of the colonoscopies showed that the visualization was poor of the ascending colon and cecum as it was not possible to take the scope beyond the transverse colon. Yet, the physician who carried out the 3 colonoscopies and followed the woman throughout this period kept indicating to her that her problems were due to hemorrhoids.

The Patient was finally diagnosed with colon cancer when her tumor was detected as she was undergoing exploratory surgery to uncover the reson for her problems. A considerable percentage of her intestines was taken out due to the cancer. The woman was further treated with chemotherapy. She eventually died from the cancer. Due to the physician's failure to order additional testing to determine the source of her symptoms given that there were 2 incomplete colonoscopies the woman’s family pursued a lawsuit. The law firm handled the matter was able to report that they acheived a settlement of $875,000 for the family.

Physicians employ diagnostic tests to discover or exclude particular diseases such as several kinds of cancers. For instance, the colonoscopy is a procedure employed to locate or exclude colon cancer. Yet the test is only as good as the reliability with which the test was performed. A colonoscopy employs a scope to see the interior of the colon in order to ascertain whether there are any polyps or tumors in the colon{.|

}When the entire colon is not visualized, as in the lawsuit previously mentioned, a physician should not rely on it to rule out cancer. Doing so makes about as much sense as only listening to one of your lungs, examining only one of your eyes, or ordering only part of a complete blood count. If the patient does have cancer this could bring about a delay in diagnosis that allows the cancer time to grow and progress to an uncurable stage. In a situation like that the physician who counted on an incomplete procedure might be liable.

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Joseph Hernandez is an Attorney accepting medical malpractice cases. To learn more about stage 4 colon cancer cases request a free consultation with a cancer lawyer at the website

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