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A Betrayal of Trust,
A Lost Chance
When you start to feel as though something may be wrong with your health, you likely will trust your instincts and turn to medical professionals for help. After medical evaluation a doctor may tell you that nothing is wrong or offers a quick fix, usually, these diagnoses can be trusted. This trust can sustain your confidence that they have taken the necessary precautions thus everything will be okay.
What Is a Delayed Cancer Diagnosis?
A delayed cancer diagnosis is a delay in diagnosing cancerous cells that leads to patient harm. Not all forms of cancer provide concrete symptoms that unilaterally point to cancer, so a prompt diagnosis is not always possible. Legal grounds may exist to file a delayed diagnosis medical malpractice claim when a healthcare provider’s error leads to the delay. A delayed diagnosis of cancer is particularly tragic because survival odds are much higher when the cancer is detected early. When a healthcare provider’s care falls below the accepted standard of care, you may have legal justification to pursue a medical malpractice claim against them.
A diagnosis of cancer may be delayed due to various causes, including an initial misdiagnosis, a misinterpretation of an imaging study, or a failed biopsy. When a doctor erroneously diagnoses cancer as another condition, it is considered a misdiagnosis. This can lead to the patient not receiving the medical care they need and potentially receiving medical care that is harmful to them.
Delayed Cancer Diagnosis Lawyers Serving Albany, Syracuse, & Rochester
We encourage you to learn more about:
- The services our lawyers provide to people who’ve been harmed by a misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis of cancer
- The different ways in which health care providers and doctors fail their patients
- The states that allow delayed diagnosis of cancer lawsuits
- Why it’s important to contact a lawyer sooner rather than later
Speak to our delayed cancer diagnosis attorneys today at 866-512-7445, or contact us online.
Initial consultations are free and without obligation. You are not required to know whether or not you have a delayed cancer diagnosis lawsuit, we are able to investigate and help you understand what may have happened. You don’t even have to know whether or not you have a delayed cancer diagnosis lawsuit. If our results conclude that you do have a delayed cancer diagnosis lawsuit, we handle cases on a contingency basis, meaning our attorneys only get paid if you win.
Read our Delayed Diagnosis Blogs
Can You Sue for a Delayed Prostate Cancer Diagnosis?
Posted: February 16, 2024
Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers for men. According to the American Cancer Society, about 1 in 8 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer, and 1 in 44 will die from it. However, the disease is different for each person. With less aggressive cancers, a man and his doctor might only …
Continue reading “Can You Sue for a Delayed Prostate Cancer Diagnosis?”
Early Signs of Breast Cancer which Are Easy to Miss
Posted: January 30, 2024
Each year, around 260,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer. Their outlook varies. Some breast cancer is more aggressive than others, but any patient would benefit from early detection. When breast cancer is diagnosed early, patients have more treatment options. They also have a statistically better chance of surviving the disease. The most prominent breast …
Continue reading “Early Signs of Breast Cancer which Are Easy to Miss”
VA Ordered to Pay $975,000 for Delayed Cancer Diagnosis of Deceased New York Man
Posted: September 22, 2023
A delayed cancer diagnosis is often a death sentence for patients who do not learn the truth about their condition until it is too late. But even in cases where a health care provider admits a delay violated the accepted standard of care for the medical profession, that is not the end of the matter. …
Continue reading “VA Ordered to Pay $975,000 for Delayed Cancer Diagnosis of Deceased New York Man”
How Can a Delayed Cancer Diagnosis Lawyer Help?
If you have just heard the tragic news that you have cancer and that it should have been caught sooner, you are understandably upset. You should have the space and time to heal and figure out the medical treatment you receive. By hiring a delayed cancer diagnosis attorney, you can delegate the legal claim process to a competent legal professional so you can focus on what matters most: your health.
The experienced medical malpractice attorneys at Powers & Santola, LLP know how to aggressively advocate for our clients and fight for the compensation they deserve. We have nearly four decades of experience handling New York personal injury claims, including many complex medical malpractice cases. We prepare all cases as though they were going to trial, allowing us to develop a strong understanding of our clients’ legal claims.
We also work with a network of medical experts whom we call upon to further bolster cases and establish that healthcare providers deviated from the standard of care. With hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation already recovered for our clients, you can bet that insurance companies have heard of us and know we mean business. This allows us to often settle our clients’ cases before trial for maximum compensation. Learn more about how we can help when you call our personal injury law firm today for a free consultation.
How Common Are Delayed
or Missed Cancer Diagnoses?
Even though there is no consensus on the exact figure, studies and surveys indicate that this type of tragedy occurs often in New York State and throughout the country.
If the misdiagnosis was caused by negligence on a medical professional’s part, it may be grounds for asserting a medical malpractice claim. Thus, if you or a loved one was misdiagnosed, it is advisable to not let the matter rest. You should speak with an attorney who can help you uncover who was responsible for your misdiagnosis.
How Often Do Doctors
Miss Cancer Diagnoses?
It is difficult to track the frequency of missed cancer diagnoses with any real certainty. Yet, many studies have been conducted to try and answer this question. For instance, one study in The American Journal of Medicine found the misdiagnosis rate to be 15%, while another one published in BMJ Quality and Safety estimated it to be at 28%.
However, those studies did not take into account the perspective of physicians themselves, who have unique insight into how often and why misdiagnoses occur. They also did not investigate the rate of cancer misdiagnoses specifically, which is of particular interest, since there will be a projected 1,658,370 new cancer cases in 2015 in the U.S.
In 2012, the National Coalition on Healthcare (along with Best Doctors) conducted a survey of medical professionals to try to fill in these gaps. They found that physicians believe the most commonly misdiagnosed cancers are:
Unfortunately, researchers also found that physicians tend to underestimate the rate of misdiagnosis. The majority of doctors believed that diagnostic errors in cancer cases only occur between zero and 10% of the time. However, for some types of cancers, the actual independently estimated misdiagnosis rate runs up to 44 percent. Only 1.5 percent of respondents believed that doctors misdiagnose at that high of a rate.
Why Do Doctors
Misdiagnose Cancer?
There is a multitude of reasons why a doctor might misdiagnose cancer. For one thing, they may be overconfident. It stands to reason that if doctors believe they rarely make misdiagnoses – as the 2012 study indicates – they won’t be on the lookout for common errors. This compounds the problem.
In the 2012 study, doctors themselves cited several possible reasons for why cancer misdiagnoses occur. The most common cause they pointed to was missing or fragmented information in medical information systems. In other words, if they cannot access complete and accurate information about a cancer patient, it is hard for doctors to make the best possible diagnosis.
Some doctors also believed that greater transparency within the hospital system could lead to fewer cancer misdiagnoses. They suggested treating misdiagnosis as a public health issue and creating legislation and public policy to address it. For instance, hospitals could be provided with incentives for hospitals to gather better data on misdiagnoses or to implement better reporting systems within hospitals.
Doctors also believed that poor or unavailable pathology tools (such as genetic testing and radiology resources) are sometimes to blame. This is because the interpretation of patients’ pathology requires frequent updates. Nearly half of the surveyed doctors also cited a lack of sub-specialty knowledge among pathologists, suggesting that perhaps the field of pathology may be “over-generalized.” A smaller proportion of doctors felt that not enough time was devoted to patient consultation, especially remote consultation.
The Consequences of Not Receiving a Timely Cancer Diagnosis
Medical advancements have made the treatment of cancer much more effective than they were decades ago. Today, when someone receives a cancer diagnosis, this does not necessarily mean a death sentence or the need to engage in aggressive treatments. However, a timely diagnosis is still necessary to avoid severe consequences. The chances of survival decline significantly when cancer is not discovered until later stages.
Additionally, later-stage cancer may require you to undergo invasive and aggressive medical treatments that you may have been able to avoid had your medical provider diagnosed your condition sooner. Recovery can be more difficult, too.
If you believe that you have suffered harm because of a delayed diagnosis of cancer, contact us today to speak to a personal injury attorney about your legal options.
Types of Cancer Misdiagnosis
Cancer is often diagnosed incorrectly in one of the following ways:
Misdiagnosis
A misdiagnosis occurs when a medical provider reaches the wrong conclusion about a patient’s medical condition. The healthcare professional makes an incorrect diagnosis, which can lead to the patient not receiving the care they really need and possibly receiving ineffective or harmful medical treatment for a health condition they do not have.
Delayed Diagnosis
A delayed diagnosis occurs when a healthcare provider fails to diagnose a patient’s cancer in its earliest stages under conditions that another doctor in the same specialty and geographic area would have been able to. Failing to diagnose cancer in earlier stages can result in lower survival odds and the need for more invasive and expensive medical treatment.
False Positive
A false positive occurs when a patient is diagnosed with cancer but they don’t actually have cancer. This diagnostic error can result in the patient undergoing aggressive medical treatments or removing portions of their body that was unnecessary.
All of these diagnostic errors are serious. If you believe your doctor incorrectly diagnosed you or delayed your treatment for cancer, contact our experienced medical malpractice attorneys today.
What Are the Most Commonly Misdiagnosed Cancers?
There are many different types of cancers. Many of these have symptoms that are commonly associated with other medical conditions, which can lead to an incorrect diagnosis. For example, pulmonary cancer has similar symptoms to other lung diseases, such as tuberculosis. Rare cancers may not be correctly identified by healthcare providers who are not used to dealing with these diseases.
- Some of the most commonly misdiagnosed forms of cancer include the following:
- Lung cancer
- Breast cancer
- Cervical cancer
- Ovarian Cancer
- Colorectal/Colon cancer
- Prostate cancer
- Bladder cancer
- Thyroid cancer
- Melanoma and other skin cancers
- Lymphoma (Hodgkin and Non-Hodgkin)
- Prostate cancer
A cancer malpractice lawyer can review your situation to determine if you have a viable claim.
What Do I Have to Prove to Win a Delayed Cancer Diagnosis Case?
A delayed cancer diagnosis case is a specific type of medical malpractice case. To prove your claim, we must establish that it’s more likely than not:
- The defendant owed you a duty of care because they had a doctor-patient relationship with you.
- The defendant deviated from the standard of care, which is the level of care that another medical provider with the same specialty would have provided under the same or similar circumstances.
- The defendant’s deviation from the standard of care caused your cancer diagnosis to be delayed.
- You sustained damages as a result of the delayed diagnosis.
An experienced lawyer can help gather the evidence you need to prove your claim.
What Financial Compensation Can I Recover in a Delayed Diagnosis Claim?
Once you prove that your doctor is responsible for causing you harm, the case turns to how much compensation you should recover. This compensation is referred to as your damages and is generally divided into two categories: economic and non-economic damages.
Economic Damages
Economic damages are direct financial losses you suffered as a result of the medical malpractice. They are tangible and can be quantified with evidence such as receipts, bills, and invoices. Economic damages could include:
- Additional medical expenses
- Lost wages
- Reduced earning capacity
- Replacement services
- Travel costs
Economic damages include past, current, and future losses.
Non-Economic Damages
Medical malpractice affects victims in ways that do not have such easy dollar and cents calculations. It can cause considerable harm and negatively affect your quality of life. Non-economic damages provide compensation for less tangible losses that you suffered but that cannot be easily quantified, such as:
- Pain and suffering
- Mental anguish
- Emotional distress
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Loss of consortium
Like with economic damages, you can seek compensation for past, present, and future non-economic losses.
What Is the Statute of Limitations for a Delayed Cancer Case?
The statute of limitations is the time limit you have to take a particular legal action. Most medical malpractice lawsuits must be filed within two years and six months under New York law. This time limit typically begins from the date of the healthcare provider’s negligent act. However, there is a special rule that applies in delayed cancer diagnosis cases.
Under New York law, when a medical malpractice claim is based on the negligent failure to diagnose cancer or a malignant tumor, the victim has the right to file at the later of one of the following:
- The date they knew or should have reasonably known about the defendant’s negligent act or omission
- The date of the last treatment when there is continuous treatment for that condition or illness
Therefore, a person who has received a late cancer diagnosis may be able to file a lawsuit even if more than two years and six months have passed from the misdiagnosis. In any event, a medical malpractice lawsuit cannot be filed more than seven years from the medical provider’s negligence.
Because the rules regarding time limits in civil claims can be complicated, it’s important to work with an experienced attorney who can ensure you take timely legal action.
Have You Been Impacted
by a Delayed or Missed Cancer Diagnosis?
Clearly, missed cancer diagnoses are a serious problem in the U.S. – even if some doctors do not realize it. We seek medical attention when something is wrong with our bodies. We have the right to expect the utmost care and diligence from our healthcare providers. Being a cancer patient is difficult enough as it is — the last thing a patient needs is to experience a delay in being diagnosed or to get an entirely incorrect diagnosis.
The law protects patients who have suffered pain, psychological damage and increased medical costs due to a missed or delayed cancer diagnosis. When a medical professional makes an error that is so severe and careless to be an act of negligence, that person may be held responsible for medical malpractice.
If you believe that you or a loved one was the victim of a delayed or missed cancer diagnosis, you should speak with a knowledgeable lawyer immediately.
At Powers & Santola, LLP, our lawyers have extensive experience with misdiagnosis cases in Albany, Syracuse, Rochester, and elsewhere in New York State. We know how to dig deep for evidence and build a strong case. We are also fully committed to improving the lives of our clients.
We can help you to negotiate the daunting process of going against a hospital in a medical malpractice case. We will support you at every step of the way. Contact us today for a free initial consultation. Even if you are unsure of whether a misdiagnosis occurred, it can only benefit you to get more information.
Call Today! (518) 465-5995
Sources
- Exploring Diagnostic Accuracy in Cancer: A Nationwide Survey of 400 Leading Cancer Specialists, National Coalition on Healthcare
- Cancer Facts & Figures 2015, American Cancer Society
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