With today’s modern medicine, a lung cancer diagnosis is not the death sentence that it used to be. However, the best chances at survival correspond with early detection. What happens when a doctor fails to detect lung cancer or diagnose it as another condition?
When doctors fail to timely diagnose cancer correctly, this may be considered medical malpractice. It costs patients precious time, decreases survival odds, and limits treatment options. At Powers & Santola, LLP, we fight to uphold patients’ rights. Our medical malpractice attorneys believe that patients deserve accurate diagnoses and accountability when healthcare providers make mistakes.
How a Medical Malpractice Lawyer Can Help If You Suspect a Lung Cancer Misdiagnosis
You trust your medical provider to accurately diagnose your condition and provide you with quality care. When your doctor fails to use their knowledge and experience to diagnose lung cancer accurately, you may suffer substantially. At this point, all you should do is focus on your health and recovery.
An experienced medical malpractice lawyer can handle all the legal aspects of your case and advocate for you. A lawyer can help by:
- Investigating your case and determining if you have legal grounds to file a medical malpractice claim
- Explaining New York law to you and how it affects your case
- Gathering objective evidence to help support your legal claim
- Handling communications with medical malpractice insurance companies and others on your behalf
- Negotiating for fair compensation
- Fighting for you in and out of court
Contact us today for a free consultation to learn more about how we can help.
Why Choose Powers & Santola, LLP for Your Medical Malpractice Case
When you decide to hire an attorney after suspecting a cancer misdiagnosis has harmed you, you must hire one who is fully equipped to handle everything that your case will likely entail. Medical malpractice cases are a subset of personal injury cases that require an in-depth understanding of the intersection of medicine and the law. Not all personal injury lawyers are equally skilled in these cases.
The attorneys at Powers & Santola, LLP are uniquely qualified to handle cases involving misdiagnosis of lung cancer. Four of our attorneys have been repeatedly recognized in The Best Lawyers in America (based on peer reviews) for their excellence in medical malpractice law, and two have earned recognition as Medical Malpractice Lawyers of the Year.
Furthermore, our personal injury and medical malpractice law firm has been in place since 1987. This means that we have decades of experience successfully fighting these types of cases. In nearly 40 years, we have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation for our deserving clients, including many multi-million dollar awards for individual clients. We are dedicated to doing everything we can to ease your burden.
Our entire legal team fights for the best possible outcome for our clients. We approach every person with the respect and dignity they deserve, helping restore their faith in others after someone else’s negligence derailed their lives. Learn more about how our compassionate and skilled attorneys can help when you call for a confidential consultation.
Lung Cancer Survival Rates
According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), lung cancer is responsible for 1.59 million deaths worldwide annually. It has one of the poorest survival outcomes of all forms of cancer. Over two-thirds of patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage. According to the NIH, early diagnosis of lung cancer is the main goal to improve survival.
The further that cancer is allowed to spread, the worse the survival odds. For localized cancer where there is no sign of cancer spreading outside the affected lung, the five-year survival rate is 67%, according to the American Cancer Society. When the cancer has spread outside the lung to nearby structures of lymph nodes (regional), the five-year survival rate is 40%. However, if the cancer has spread to distant parts of the body, such as the other lung, brain, liver, or bones, it only has a 12% five-year survival rate.
The dramatic difference in survival rates between localized and late-stage diagnoses underscores the critical importance of timely, accurate imaging interpretation.
Consequences of a Delayed Lung Cancer Diagnosis
Some of the potential ramifications of a delayed lung cancer diagnosis could include the following:
Advanced Disease Progression
When cancer is not timely diagnosed, it has a chance to spread. For example, a small tumor that is overlooked can easily grow and metastasize. As explained above, the survival rates for cancer are drastically lower for different stages of lung cancer. Some treatments may not be medically feasible at later stages.
Unnecessary Medical Treatment
If a patient is misdiagnosed with another condition, they may receive unnecessary treatment, thereby exposing them to additional risks.
Delayed Treatment
Patients who have a failed diagnosis do not receive the medical care and treatment that they need. This crucial delay can signify the difference between an early-stage cancer and a more advanced stage that is more difficult to treat, drastically reducing survival odds.
Emotional Distress
Finding out that your trusted medical provider has failed you in such a significant way can lead to emotional trauma. You likely feel disappointed or even betrayed. Learning that your life may have been cut short due to a healthcare provider’s negligence can be extremely distressing and cause psychological trauma to victims and their families.
Financial Strain
Because less invasive treatment options may not be available, healthcare providers may resort to more aggressive, expensive treatments.
Why Lung Cancer Is Misdiagnosed
Lung cancer misdiagnosis is a serious form of medical malpractice that costs patients precious time, limits their treatment options, and reduces their survival chances.
X-Ray Errors
According to the NIH, approximately 90% of presumed mistakes in pulmonary tumor diagnosis occurred on chest radiography. Radiologists may fail to distinguish lung lesions from bones, pulmonary vessels, mediastinal structures, and other chest structures on chest X-rays.
Technical factors in X-ray imaging can also increase the likelihood of missing a lung cancer diagnosis, including patient positioning, movement, and image quality.
CT Examination Errors
The NIH reports that about 5% of presumed mistakes in pulmonary tumor diagnosis occur on CT examinations, and the remaining 5% are due to other imaging studies. CT scans can sometimes be better at identifying lung cancer, and initial identification of lung cancer in patients without obvious symptoms sometimes occurs on chest CT. However, CT scans can also result in medical providers overlooking signs of lung cancer.
Observer Errors
Radiologists and other medical providers may make errors in visually detecting cancerous tumors. Radiologists might miss modules due to visual scanning errors, failing to identify them as masses, or underestimating their significance.
Imaging Misinterpretations
Radiologists might misinterpret cancerous tumors as benign scarring, or they might overlook tumors or nodules on scans.
Communication Errors
Lab technicians may fail to alert medical providers to abnormal findings or to provide lab reports. If the doctor also fails to follow up on the tests or assumes that if they don’t hear anything, there isn’t a problem, a patient could suffer from a delayed diagnosis.
Mistaking Symptoms for Another Condition
Sometimes, medical providers might mistake lung cancer for another condition due to similar symptoms, such as:
- Bronchitis: The persistent cough and chest discomfort associated with lung cancer may be mistakenly attributed to bronchitis.
- Pneumonia: Pneumonia shares symptoms with lung cancer, including shortness of breath, persistent cough, coughing up blood, chest pain, and fatigue, which can lead to misdiagnosis.
- Respiratory infections: Doctors could also misdiagnose lung cancer for more common respiratory infections.
- Asthma: Shortness of breath and wheezing are commonly associated with both medical conditions.
- Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD): The rate of diagnosis of COPD is greater today, but some diagnoses are incorrect.
- Tuberculosis: Abnormal chest X-rays are sometimes confused with tuberculosis instead of lung cancer.
Healthcare providers must integrate X-ray findings with patient symptoms to help increase diagnostic accuracy.
Ignoring Patient History
Doctors may ignore information in a patient’s history that makes lung cancer more likely and might justify further scrutiny, such as smoking history, family history of lung cancer or other cancers, or environmental risks.
Failing to Order Proper Testing
If doctors fail to order proper tests, such as chest X-rays, CT scans, or biopsies, when symptoms first appear, they can miss an important diagnosis.
Financial Compensation You Can Recover After a Delayed Diagnosis of Lung Cancer
If your medical provider cost you precious time by delaying your cancer diagnosis, you could be facing emotional and financial turmoil. Your life is literally on the line. By filing a personal injury claim, you can seek compensation for the effects that the healthcare provider’s negligence has harmed you, including for non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering, mental distress, and emotional anguish.
You will likely need more aggressive medical treatment, which can be very expensive. You may also have to travel to receive this treatment. You can seek compensation for your economic losses, including medical bills, ongoing medical treatment, and future medical expenses.
You can also seek compensation for the impact your cancer has had on your life and career. You might have a long recovery period or have to retire early. You can seek compensation for your lost wages and reduced earning capacity. You can also seek compensation for your lost enjoyment of life.
An experienced attorney from our law firm can carefully evaluate your case and determine the damages you are entitled to. We demand maximum compensation that fairly acknowledges the full impact a delayed diagnosis has on a patient and their family.
Time Limit to File a Medical Malpractice Case in New York
When your healthcare provider failed to accurately diagnose you with lung cancer, causing you harm, you may have the right to file a medical malpractice lawsuit. The general statute of limitations for medical malpractice cases is two and a half years in New York. However, there is a special rule for delayed cancer cases.
Known as Lavern’s Law, this rule holds that medical malpractice victims should have two and a half years from when they discovered the mistake that led to a delayed or failed diagnosis of cancer. However, in any event, the case must be filed within seven years of the negligent act that led to the delayed diagnosis. An experienced lawyer can carefully review your case to identify the deadline you have to take legal action.
Contact Powers & Santola, LLP for a Free Case Consultation
If a radiologist at a Syracuse-area hospital or another healthcare provider misses early lung cancer indicators on a chest X-ray or CT scan and harms you or a loved one, you should reach out to an experienced lawyer for legal representation and advice. The compassionate legal team at Powers & Santola, LLP can explain your legal rights and options. Contact our law firm today for a free, no-obligation consultation.
