When Physicians Fail To Follow Up After PSA Results Reveal The Possibility Of Prostate Cancer

Men frequently have a lack of awareness of prostate cancer, their own risk for the cancer, and the ways in which they can figure out whether they have prostate cancer. Many men have limited, if any, idea of the advantage of testing for prostate cancer or of the guidelines for when they should commence screening, how frequently to screen, and how to interpret the test results. Regrettably doctors on occasion fail to screen male patients or fail to follow up with diagnostic testing after an abnormal result from a screening test.

Delayed diagnosis of prostate cancer examples are all too common. One common type of medical error that forms the basis for these cases happens when the male patient’s primary care physician (1) screens the individual for prostate cancer by monitoring the level of PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) in his bloodstream, (2) discovers that the individual has an elevated PSA level, but (3) fails to inform the patient, does not refer the patient to a urologist, and fails to get a biopsy to confirm if the elevated PSA is due to prostate cancer. Consider the following claim, for instance:

A physician, an internist, learned that his male patient had a PSA of 8. (a level above a 4.0 is ordinarily considered high). The physician did not inform the patient. The physician failed to refer the patient to a urologist. The doctor did not order a biopsy. Two years later the doctor repeated the PSA test. This time the PSA level had gone up to 13.6. Again, the doctor said nothing to the patient. Again, the doctor did not refer the patient to a urologist. And again, the physician did not order a biopsy. Two years later the physician repeated the PSA test. It was not until three years after first knowing about the patient’s raised PSA level that the doctor finally advised him that he probably had cancer. By the time he was diagnosed he had metastatic prostate cancer and surgery was no longer among the treatment options. Rather the man underwent radiation therapy and hormone therapy in an effort to stall the further progression of the cancer. The law firm that handled this matter reported that they took the claim to mediation where they achieved a settlement of $600,000.

But not following up after observing abnormal test results brings about a situation in which those patients who do in fact have prostate cancer may not find out they have it until it has spread beyond the prostate, restricting the patient’s options for treatment, and considerably decreasing the likelihood that the patient will be able to survive the cancer.

This lawsuit illustrates a type of mistake that can result in the delayed diagnosis of a patient’s prostate cancer. It occurs when the doctor actually follows the guidelines and screens male patients for prostate cancer however does not follow through when the test results are abnormal.

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

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