Receiving a diagnosis of Hodgkin or Non-Hodgkin lymphoma can be a frightening experience. That fear often turns to anger upon learning that you received your diagnosis much later than you should have. Lymphoma is a disease that people recover from every day, but this relies on receiving a timely diagnosis.
If you have received a lymphoma misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis, you may have a legal right to file a medical malpractice claim against the healthcare professionals responsible for your misdiagnosis. Contact the award-winning medical malpractice and personal injury firm of Powers & Santola, LLP for a free consultation.
The Role of Lymph Nodes
Lymph nodes are part of the lymphatic system, which is the body’s germ-fighting immune system. Lymph nodes are clusters of cells that serve as filters for the immune system, trapping and destroying germs and abnormal cells, including cancer cells, as they flow through them. This function ultimately helps to prevent infections from spreading. The nodes are full of lymphocytes, or immune cells that identify and neutralize threats, and they swell in areas when they are fighting an infection.
Lymph Nodes and Lymphoma
Lymphoma can affect lymph nodes, bone marrow, blood, the spleen, and tissues throughout the body. It starts in white blood cells called lymphocytes. As such, lymph nodes can become swollen due to lymphoma. Realizing this possible connection is crucial to receiving an accurate diagnosis.
Other Symptoms of Lymphoma
In addition to attributing swollen lymph nodes to viral infections or stress, Syracuse-area physicians may also attribute other symptoms of lymphoma to these conditions, including:
- Fatigue
- Night sweats
- Fever and chills
- Unexplained weight loss
- Persistent cough
- Chest pain
- Difficulty breathing
- Abdominal swelling
While swollen lymph nodes are a common symptom of infection, ignoring them and other symptoms can lead to a failure to correctly diagnose the patient.
Diagnosing Lymphoma
Whether a patient presents only with swollen lymph nodes or with other symptoms associated with lymphoma, doctors should conduct a thorough examination. Additional tests are necessary to confirm a diagnosis of lymphoma.
For Hodgkin’s lymphoma, healthcare professionals may diagnose a patient by detecting Reed-Sternberg cells, which are specific to the disease and indicative of it. Blood tests can help detect these cells. Imaging tests, such as MRIs, CT scans, and X-rays, can also help reveal lymphoma. Sometimes, doctors may organize biopsies to confirm Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma is historically more difficult to diagnose accurately. This is because white blood cells in the body can mutate, divide, and spread. Sometimes, they spread quickly to other areas of the body, making this condition more deadly. Doctors would need to perform a biopsy on the patient or refer them to another qualified healthcare provider to perform the biopsy.
Doctors might order a biopsy if a swollen lymph node has not returned to its normal size after a reasonable amount of time or if it continues to swell. In these cases, physicians might remove a small piece of the swollen lymph node for observation and testing.
If an initial biopsy confirms Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, healthcare providers may perform a bone marrow biopsy to determine how far the cancer has spread.
Dangers of a Late Diagnosis of Lymphoma
The consequences of a late or delayed diagnosis of lymphoma can be severe or even fatal. When lymphoma is not promptly diagnosed, it can grow throughout the body.
Many forms of lymphoma are highly treatable when they are caught early, but they may be deadly if they are allowed to spread untreated. Reduced treatment options or a worse prognosis are likely due to the failure to obtain an early diagnosis.
Failing to diagnose lymphoma accurately or on a timely basis can result in reduced life expectancy and death. When deadly consequences don’t result, patients must often undergo more invasive forms of medical treatment. They may suffer from a reduced quality of life due to disease progression.
Because the lymphatic system regulates the immune system, when the disease is left untreated, the body may become more susceptible to additional infections and other problems that further decrease a patient’s quality of life.
How Swollen Lymph Nodes Can Be Misdiagnosed
One of the functions of the lymphatic system is to fight infection. During infection, it is common for lymph nodes to swell. Lymphoma misdiagnosis often occurs because doctors misdiagnose the symptom of swollen lymph nodes for minor infections, viral infections, or autoimmune issues, rather than lymphoma.
Lymphoma can be accurately diagnosed when a patient’s doctor orders proper imaging tests, blood work, or biopsies. When they fail to take these measures or to refer the patient for an oncology consultation, it may constitute medical negligence.
For example, a physician may misattribute lymphoma to mononucleosis because some symptoms overlap, such as swollen lymph nodes, persistent fatigue, and fever. Because the patient is receiving treatment for that condition, they are not receiving the treatment they need for the much more serious medical condition they actually have, lymphoma.
Some of the major causes of a delay or missed diagnosis of lymphoma include:
- Mistaking symptoms for another disease
- Failing to get a complete patient history
- Failing to perform imaging tests
- Failing to order blood work
- Failing to order a biopsy
- Biopsies being performed incorrectly
- Misinterpreting test results
- Having untrained pathologists providing results
- Failing to follow up with laboratories or specialists after referrals
The best way to determine if your doctor’s mistake constitutes medical malpractice is to consult with an experienced malpractice lawyer.
What You Have to Prove to Show Medical Malpractice
If you received an untimely diagnosis of lymphoma, you may have legal grounds to file a medical malpractice claim if you and your attorney can demonstrate the general legal elements involved in a negligence case, including:
Duty of Care
You and your medical malpractice lawyer must show that the defendant healthcare provider had a legal duty of care. In medical malpractice cases, the duty of care is based on the medical standard of care, which is the level of care that a healthcare professional with a similar background and the same specialty would use under similar circumstances.
Breach of Duty
The next legal element that you must prove is that the healthcare provider breached their duty of care. This is what the physician did or did not do that deviated from the applicable standard of care.
New York requires plaintiffs in medical malpractice cases to include, along with the complaint, an affidavit stating that a medical expert has been consulted and determined that the healthcare provider committed medical malpractice. Medical experts may testify during the trial to explain the standard of care and the healthcare provider’s deviation from it.
Causation
Next, your medical malpractice attorney must show that the healthcare professional’s deviation from the standard of care is what caused your condition to worsen or for you to suffer harm otherwise. Again, proving this legal element will likely require expert testimony. This testimony will need to be compelling and overcome the defendant’s argument that the harm was inevitable or caused by another factor.
Damages
Finally, you must show that the doctor’s mistake has caused you measurable harm. For example, you have incurred additional medical expenses or endured additional pain and suffering as a result of the doctor’s mistake.
Seeking Financial Compensation After Medical Malpractice Occurs
Financial compensation won’t heal your cancer or truly make up for the doctor’s error. However, it can help ease the financial burden brought on by someone else’s negligence. It can also help cover some of the expensive medical treatments you need and provide a sense of relief as you navigate your healing journey.
Medical malpractice victims can pursue compensation for their economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages compensate for direct financial losses, such as medical bills, while non-economic damages compensate for intangible losses, such as pain and suffering. An experienced attorney can identify the damages that you can seek in a medical malpractice claim, such as:
- Cost of medical care, including additional medical expenses for surgery, hospital stays, and specialist treatment
- Lost wages and reduced earning capacity
- Mileage and travel expenses
- Physical pain and suffering
- Mental anguish and emotional trauma
- Reduced quality of life
Why Choose Powers & Santola, LLP
When you’re dealing with a complex medical malpractice claim, you need an experienced attorney who understands these matters. Powers & Santola, LLP is recognized as one of America’s best law firms. We are consistently named in the U.S. News and World Report and Best Lawyers in America as one of the country’s best medical malpractice law and personal injury law firms, and many of our attorneys have been recognized as Medical Malpractice Lawyer of the Year and Personal Injury Lawyer of the Year.
We consistently achieve life-changing results for our clients. Collectively, we have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation for our clients. Our reputation precedes us in the negotiating room. Insurance companies know that a case has merit when we are on it. And, if the insurance company isn’t prepared to offer a fair settlement, we are ready to take your case to trial.
When you retain our legal services, we can help with your medical malpractice case by:
- Thoroughly investigating your case
- Carefully exploring all options for compensation
- Aggressively negotiating with insurance companies for the fair compensation you deserve
- Diligently preparing cases for trial
- Collaboratively working with nationally-recognized medical experts and other expert consultants.
We can explain more about how we can help when you call for your free, no-obligation consultation.
Contact an Experienced Medical Malpractice Attorney for Legal Assistance Today
If your doctor misdiagnosed your lymphoma and caused you harm, Powers & Santola, LLP can help. We can review the facts of your case, determine whether you have a viable medical malpractice claim, and relentlessly pursue the justice and compensation you deserve.
Contact our law office in Syracuse, New York, today to schedule an initial consultation. We explain your legal rights and options during your free case review.
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