Cancer isn’t the death sentence that it once was – thanks to significant advances in medical technology and early diagnostic testing. Breast cancer and prostate cancer both have a greater than 99% five-year survival rate when the cancer is localized, according to the American Cancer Society.
However, if a healthcare provider doesn’t order necessary tests, misinterprets test results, or conducts a test inappropriately, your cancer may not be properly diagnosed. By the time the error is corrected, the cancer could have spread, which potentially reduces your likelihood of survival and exposes you to harsher medical treatments.
If you were harmed due to a radiology or lab error, contact the breast cancer misdiagnosis lawyers at Powers & Sanotla, LLP for immediate legal assistance. We can review your legal rights and options during a free consultation.
How a Medical Malpractice Lawyer Can Help After a Radiology or Lab Error
If you have recently learned that you have cancer – and that the cancer has progressed due to medical malpractice – you likely have many questions and concerns about your health. Having an experienced medical malpractice lawyer on your side can help ease your concerns and guide you through the legal process of holding irresponsible medical providers accountable for the harm you’ve suffered.
When you hire a medical malpractice lawyer, they can help by:
- Explaining the law during a free case review
- Investigating your case
- Determining the issues and factors that contributed to your failed diagnosis, delayed diagnosis, or cancer misdiagnosis
- Identifying all at-fault parties and legal theories to hold them accountable
- Taking legal action in a timely manner
- Communicating with insurance companies on your behalf
- Filing claims under medical malpractice insurance policies
Powers & Santola, LLP can explain how we can help when you call for your free consultation.
What Is a Radiology or Lab Error?
The proper diagnosis of cancer often depends on obtaining accurate test results stemming from X-rays, blood samples, and other tests. Mistakes in administering, interpreting, and communicating test results can lead to adverse effects. When mistakes occur, patients do not receive the information they need to make critical decisions about their care.
Radiology or lab errors can contribute to diagnostic mistakes.
Radiology is a branch of medicine that utilizes medical imaging techniques to diagnose and treat various diseases, such as:
- X-rays: X-rays produce images of bones and internal organs.
- CT scans: Computed tomography (CT) scans create detailed cross-sectional images of various body parts using X-rays.
- MRI scans: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans use magnetic fields and radio waves to create highly detailed images of soft tissues.
- Ultrasound: Ultrasounds use sound waves to create images of organs and blood flow.
Research indicates a typical error or discrepancy rate in radiology is 3% to 5%, with other targeted studies noting higher rates.
Lab errors are errors that occur in laboratories where screening tests are used to help detect cancer. A technician may not perform a procedure correctly or may mix up patient samples.
Radiology and laboratory errors can lead to several types of diagnostic errors, including the following:
- A false-positive, in which a patient is told they have cancer when they don’t
- A failure to diagnose cancer, which leads to a patient not receiving the prompt medical treatment they need
- A delayed cancer diagnosis, in which the cancer is allowed to spread because the medical provider did not diagnose cancer in a timely manner
Lab or radiology lab errors can occur when ordering, performing, interpreting, or reporting diagnostic tests that result in patient harm.
Diagnostic Tests That Detect Cancer
Various diagnostic tests can help detect cancer early, including:
- Biopsies, which involve taking a tissue sample suspected of being cancerous for microscopic examination
- Imaging tests, which help visualize tumors
- Laboratory tests, including blood and urine tests that detect abnormal cells or tumor markers
- Multi-cancer early detection blood tests, which screen for signals of various cancers
- Mammograms, pap smears, or other specialized tests, which help screen for specific types of cancer
Healthcare providers may use a combination of these tests to confirm a cancer diagnosis.
Common Types of Radiology or Lab Errors That Can Result in a Cancer Misdiagnosis
Unfortunately, there’s no shortage of ways that laboratory technicians, radiologists, and medical providers can make a mistake that leads to a cancer diagnosis mistake. Errors that can contribute to cancer misdiagnosis can include:
- Failing to order necessary tests
- Mislabeling patient samples
- Mixing up patient samples with each other
- Not performing a biopsy correctly
- Contaminating a patient sample
- Misreading images or samples
- Failing to notice an abnormality
- Incorrectly interpreting findings
- Communication failures
- Errors in conducting tests
- Over-reading test results
- Reporting misleading information
- Making a limited differential diagnosis
- Failing to look for other indications of cancer after a first detection was made
- Failing to follow up with the patient
- Attributing abnormalities to the wrong cause
- Not paying attention to abnormalities on tests that were visible but were not part of the initial testing area
- Failing to consult prior imaging studies
- Relying too heavily on previous test results
- Obtaining an inaccurate or incomplete clinical history
These types of errors may indicate medical malpractice. If another medical provider with similar education and training would have detected the cancer, you may have a viable medical malpractice claim.
Factors That Contribute to Lab Errors
Making a cancer diagnosis is a significant task that requires specialized knowledge and training. Doctors may approach a case with a particular bias and not be open to the idea that their patient has a potentially deadly disease. Not all doctors are knowledgeable about the signs of cancer and may miss critical warning signs.
Human errors and fatigue can also play a part. The average doctor may have many patients and may not be able to recall details specific to one patient vs. another, especially when they only spend a few minutes of time with each patient.
Modern healthcare systems may be criticized if they don’t provide prompt patient treatment. Patients may expect to be discharged from a hospital quickly, so healthcare providers may fail to order necessary tests or quickly review them, leading to diagnostic mistakes. Emergency room doctors may have limited information about patients, who may have co-morbidities and symptoms that can be incorrectly attributed to other health conditions.
Imaging tests might be requested before patients have been carefully examined, which can result in the doctor not having a realistic idea about what portions of the patient’s body should be tested. In hospital settings, relevant information might not be communicated fully or in a timely manner.
Radiology and laboratory departments might be under intense pressure to get results back to requesting doctors. These departments might be overworked and understaffed, leading to the increased possibility of making mistakes. They may prioritize volume over providing accurate results to patients.
Factors that are often linked to cancer misdiagnosis include the following:
- Inadequate clinical information
- Inadequate family history
- Inappropriate expectations of the capabilities of a radiological or laboratory technician
- Lack of appropriate contracts or the patient’s bodily habitus
- Lack of knowledge to identify or recognize the relevant finding
- The application of faulty reasoning
- Communication failures between medical providers
- Faulty or defective equipment
- Failure to have systems in place to prevent errors
- Healthcare provider fatigue
- Staff shortages
- Excess workload
- Poor lighting conditions
- Inattention due to repetition of similar tasks
- Unavailability of previous studies for comparison
- Interruptions during the testing or analysis that distract the radiologist or medical technician
An experienced medical malpractice attorney can investigate your case to determine how the radiology or lab error resulted in a cancer misdiagnosis for you and identify the party responsible for it.
Who Is Responsible for a Lab or Radiology Error That Results in a Cancer Misdiagnosis?
Various parties can contribute to a cancer misdiagnosis and be responsible in a medical malpractice claim. For example, a radiologist or lab technician who made a mistake can be held accountable. Their employer, such as the laboratory or the hospital, could be responsible for your damages due to the legal doctrine of respondeat superior.
A treating physician is sometimes to blame for this type of condition. For example, the doctor may have failed to follow up with the results or misinterpreted the results. Hospitals or clinics can be responsible for failing to put systems in place to prevent such errors.
An experienced medical malpractice law firm can investigate why your cancer was diagnosed and the legal theories to hold responsible parties accountable for the harm they’ve caused you.
Financial Compensation You Can Seek After a Cancer Misdiagnosis
In New York, damages that personal injury victims can seek are generally categorized as the following:
Special Damages
Special damages, also known as economic damages, are quantifiable losses that the victim suffers due to the defendant’s negligence. These losses can be valued based on medical bills, invoices, estimates, or testimony from medical experts. Common examples of special damages in New York medical malpractice cases include the following:
- Costs of unnecessary cancer treatment in cases involving a false positive cancer misdiagnosis
- Additional medical treatment that was necessary due to a delayed cancer diagnosis
- Medical bills for surgery, medication, chemotherapy, radiation, and physical therapy
- The projected costs for future medical treatment
- Mental health counseling costs
- Costs of home modifications to accommodate a disability
- Lost wages and reduced earning capacity
- Transportation costs to and from treatment
General Damages
General damages are less quantifiable than special damages. They represent the less tangible and more subjective harms people suffer. In delayed cancer diagnosis cases, general damages can include the following:
- Physical pain and suffering
- Mental anguish
- Emotional distress
- Depression and anxiety
- Scarring and disfigurement
- Disabilities and impairments
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Loss of consortium
What Is My Radiology or Lab Error Case Worth?
Medical malpractice claims focus on providing monetary damages to victims. However, the amount of compensation one injured patient can receive differs from what another patient could receive. The potential value of your medical malpractice case depends on factors such as:
- Who was responsible for the lab or radiology error
- The responsible party’s employer
- The responsible party’s medical malpractice insurance
- When the cancer should have been diagnosed vs. when it actually was diagnosed
- The value of your economic damages
- The extent of your pain and suffering
- The effect the delayed diagnosis or misdiagnosis had on your life
- Whether your case settles or goes to trial
An experienced medical malpractice lawyer from Powers & Santola, LLP can carefully review your case and determine the potential value of your claim. Contact us today to learn more.
Deadline for Filing a Cancer Misdiagnosis Lawsuit in New York
Most medical malpractice lawsuits must be filed within two and a half years of the negligent act to comply with New York’s statute of limitations. However, in cases involving negligent actions that result in a failure to diagnose cancer or a delayed cancer diagnosis, New York has a special law that applies and tolls the statute of limitations until the negligent act is or could have reasonably been discovered. However, even in these cases, injured patients are required to file their case within seven years of the negligent act.
Contact Our Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury Law Firm for a Free Consultation
If you suspect that your failure to diagnose cancer case was due to a radiology or lab error, the experienced legal team at Powers & Santola, LLP can help. We can carefully review your case, identify why the misdiagnosis occurred, and determine who is responsible for your injuries. Let us use our decades of legal experience to fight for you.
Contact our medical malpractice law firm today for a free, no-obligation consultation.
