Client: Laurie Robbins, P.A.
Copyright 2008 Laurie Robbins, P.A.
Failure to Diagnose Cancer
In Atlanta, Georgia
Technology is improving every day in order for medical professionals to be able to diagnose and treat cancer more efficiently. Failure to diagnose and recognize the symptoms of cancer is becoming more and more inexcusable. The lawyers at Robbins & Associates in Atlanta, Georgia fight hard for their clients� rights in filing lawsuits for medical malpractice.
A patient�s chances of survival are directly related to the stage of the cancer when the disease is discovered. The failure to diagnose cancer in an early stage may mean more painful and rigorous treatments than would have been necessary at an earlier stage of discovery.
As the quantity of patient appointments increases for every physician, the quality of examinations for each patient decreases. This increases the chances of misdiagnosis in life-threatening diseases. It also reduces the patient�s chances of beating the disease and surviving. These alarming factors result in an increase of medical malpractice suits being filed against medical professionals for clinical negligence.
Common Types of Misdiagnosed Cancer
� Breast cancer responds well to early discovery and treatment. It can remain undetected for long periods of time. Delays may cause the loss of one or both breasts or patient death. Failure to properly diagnose breast cancer is the type of negligence that is most involved in medical malpractice lawsuits.
� Cervical cancer is easily detectable by smear tests. Survival rates are very high if detected in the early stages. Errors in screening and interpretation can cause a failure to diagnose the cancer. This may lead to infertility or death.
� Colon cancer develops when the physician fails to properly respond to complaints of rectal bleeding. This is the second leading cause of death in cancer patients.
� Esophageal cancer has distinctive symptoms that should keep competent doctors from failing to properly diagnose the disease. These symptoms include difficulty swallowing, chronic cough and severe weight loss.
� Prostate cancer usually has a great recovery rate when detected early enough. Failure to correctly diagnose prostate cancer is decreasing substantially as screening methods continue to improve.
Failure to diagnose any of these forms of cancer in the early stages is grounds for a medical malpractice lawsuit. The pain and suffering that patients must endure becomes more and more excruciating the longer the disease goes undetected. To learn more about cancer and the failure to properly diagnose the symptoms, please contact Robbins & Associates of Atlanta, Georgia today to schedule a free consultation.