Why Is Cancer Misdiagnosed?

Medical professionals are not infallible. They can make mistakes or suffer from judgment errors that lead to misdiagnosis. Common reasons for misdiagnosed cancer include: Communication breakdowns - Doctors and other healthcare professionals may not have access to all of the information they need. This could be because staff failed to obtain it, information may be missing in medical information systems, or medical providers in different medical facilities failed to communicate together. Problems with diagnoses can also arise when doctors and their staff fail to communicate test results to their patients. Doctor fatigue - Doctors often work long hours, which can lead to fatigue. Fatigue is widely known for decreasing mental acuity, so tired doctors are more likely to make mistakes than those who are well-rested. Overconfidence - Medical providers may see the same type of maladies, so they may be confident they are seeing similar symptoms in another patient. However, this predisposition to diagnose patients with certain conditions can prevent them from recognizing symptoms of cancer. Failing to order proper tests - Medical tools to detect cancer have become more accurate and flexible. However, doctors may not have access to radiology tools, genetic testing, or other tests that might have helped diagnose cancer sooner. Lack of time - A patient who goes to see their doctor may only interact with the medical provider for a few minutes. This may not be sufficient to recognize the symptoms of cancer.

Who Is Responsible for Misdiagnosing Cancer?

Various medical providers may be to blame for a cancer misdiagnosis, including: Primary care physicians who miss signs of cancer during a physical examination or routine office visit Hospitals that misdiagnose patients after complications arise Emergency departments that do not take enough time to determine the source of the patient’s complications Medical centers or the providers they employ or contract with Pathologists who do not properly perform tests to confirm the presence of cancer cells Radiologists who make mistakes using diagnostic tests Sometimes, delays in diagnosis may be due to the negligence of nurses or staff. In other cases, corporate negligence caused the failure of proper systems to be in place that could have prevented a misdiagnosis. An experienced attorney can review your case and determine which medical provider(s) is responsible for your delayed diagnosis.

How Does a Missed or Delayed Diagnosis of Cancer Affect a Patient?

A delayed cancer diagnosis can have a profound impact on cancer patients and their families. Some of the potential consequences of a failed or delayed cancer diagnosis include: Cancer spreads - If cancer is not eradicated quickly when it is first discovered, it can spread to other areas of the body. This spreading can drastically reduce the likelihood of a patient surviving the cancer. Medical research shows that a diagnosis that is delayed by only one month for some types of cancer raises the likelihood of dying from the disease by 10%. The five-year survival rate is also significantly different when the cancer is caught early compared to after it has spread. For example, breast cancer has a five-year survival rate of 99% when it is localized, compared to 27% when it is distant. Additional medical treatment - A delayed diagnosis may mean that you must endure additional medical treatment to cure the cancer or prolong your life. You may have to undergo an invasive medical procedure, such as a mastectomy. Possible disfigurement - Cancer or its surgical removal may have resulted in disfigurement or scarring that negatively affects your self-image and quality of life. Health complications - A later-stage cancer may cause long-term complications to your health that adversely affect your quality of life. You could be left permanently disabled and unable to work. Expensive medical bills - Cancer treatments can easily cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not more. The doctor’s delay could have placed you in a precarious financial position. Pain and suffering - Cancer and associated medical treatments can cause significant physical pain and suffering, coupled with emotional distress. Our firm can evaluate your medical malpractice claim, determine how the late or missed diagnosis has affected you and your family, and fight for fair compensation.

Why Should I File a Delayed Diagnosis Lawsuit?

If you were harmed due to a cancer misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis, you should consider filing a medical malpractice lawsuit for the following reasons: You want to hold your medical provider accountable - You reasonably expect your medical provider to use the care and skill expected of their profession. When they make a mistake with such grave consequences, they should be held to account for their careless mistakes. You want to raise awareness - You likely want to help other families avoid similar situations. Your medical malpractice case can help identify dangerous doctors or lead to systemic changes that prevent future harm to others. You could recover financial compensation for your losses - Tort law recognizes that accident or injury victims cannot reverse time and prevent the actions that led to their injury, despite that being their sincerest wish. Instead, these cases focus on providing them with financial compensation to cover the losses caused by someone else’s careless mistake, such as medical expenses, lost wages, and reduced earning capacity. Medical malpractice can cause significant physical, emotional, and financial consequences, and you deserve to be fairly compensated for the ordeal you have endured. An experienced attorney can discuss the pros and cons of taking legal action with you during a free case review.

What Do I Have to Prove to Win a Delayed Diagnosis Lawsuit?

When you are the plaintiff in a civil claim, you have the burden of establishing the legal elements of your claim by the preponderance of the evidence. In a medical malpractice case, the elements are: You had a doctor/patient relationship with the healthcare provider who you allege committed medical malpractice. The healthcare provider deviated from the standard of care in misdiagnosing, failing to diagnose, or delaying the diagnosis of your cancer. The healthcare provider’s failure to correctly diagnose you in a timely manner and the delay was sufficient to make a difference in your health outcome. You suffered harm as a result of the delayed or failed diagnosis, such as needing more medical treatment, having a lower chance of survival, or being subject to additional pain and suffering. Given the dire consequences, a delayed diagnosis lawsuit may be justified in your case.

What Is the Time Limit for Filing a Medical Malpractice Claim in New York?

Each state has different rules surrounding how long you have to file a lawsuit after certain actions. In New York, you have two and a half years to file a medical malpractice lawsuit. In the case of delayed cancer diagnosis, the time limit begins when you discovered or reasonably should have discovered the negligent act that led to the delayed diagnosis. Protect your rights by reaching out to an experienced cancer misdiagnosis lawyer today.

Rochester Failure To Diagnose Cancer Lawyer

★★★★★

We absolutely can’t thank you enough.

Powers & Santola was so knowledgeable and caring. I was so very fortunate to find such a great law firm.

- John

Rochester Failure to Diagnose Cancer Lawyers
Serving Injured Patients in Rochester, New York

Early detection is key when you are battling a deadly disease like cancer. However, when a doctor acts negligently in failing to diagnose cancer or delays your diagnosis, your odds of survival are cut drastically.

For example, breast cancer has a greater than 99% five-year survival rate when caught early, but only a 32% survival rate after it has spread. Prostate cancer has similar odds with a greater than 99% five-year survival rate when the cancer is localized, but only a 37% rate when it is distant.

New York recognizes the doctrine of “loss of a chance”. This doctrine allows malpractice patients to sue for damages if a medical provider’s failure to timely diagnose cancer delayed treatment and reduced the patient’s chance of a better outcome or prognosis.

Even when a delayed cancer diagnosis does not result in death, it can still subject the victim to negative consequences. Victims may be subjected to more aggressive medical treatments than they otherwise may have been able to avoid. They could also face complications that would not have arisen absent the delayed or missed cancer diagnosis.

When you’re fighting for your life, you need an experienced medical malpractice lawyer you can depend on who can handle your legal claim. Powers & Santola is here to help. Call us today for a free consultation to meet with a compassionate member of our legal team.

How Powers & Santola, LLP Can Help After a Failed Cancer Diagnosis

If you or a loved one suffered a failed or delayed diagnosis, the medical malpractice attorneys at Powers & Santola, LLP can help you pursue compensation from the parties responsible for your delayed diagnosis.

We begin the process by thoroughly investigating your case to identify the factors that contributed to the late diagnosis and determine all liable parties. Our illustrious legal team excels in handling complex investigations involving medical malpractice. We can review medical records, request additional evidence, and preserve crucial information as part of your investigation.

Our medical malpractice lawyers have extensive experience handling complex medical malpractice claims, including failed cancer diagnosis cases. We have achieved considerable success in holding New York doctors and other healthcare providers accountable for negligent care, resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation for our medical malpractice and personal injury victims.

Due to our experience and our considerable results that precede us, insurance companies and defendants know that when we are retained for a case, we are serious about it and the case has merit. This often enables us to secure favorable settlements that compensate our clients for past, present, and future losses.

Medical malpractice cases are often complex, requiring that you hire a lawyer with an in-depth understanding of this specific area of the law. Our attorneys have over three decades of experience handling these complex cases, so we possess the knowledge and tenacity to thoroughly investigate a case and determine who is responsible for your injuries. We work with leading experts in medicine and economics who provide further support for your case.

We can help compile information about the full extent of your damages and demand fair compensation from negligent healthcare professionals and their medical malpractice insurance providers.

Common Causes of a Failed or Delayed Cancer Diagnosis

We fully trust doctors with our care. After all, they have spent years learning and practicing medicine. It can be difficult to believe that a highly trained healthcare provider can make such a devastating mistake. Unfortunately, dire medical mistakes occur at an alarming frequency.

A doctor or other healthcare provider is responsible for the damages caused by a failed or delayed cancer diagnosis when they were negligent. In the context of a medical malpractice claim, negligence occurs when a healthcare professional fails to perform an action that another medical provider in the same specialty area would have taken or performs an action that another provider would not have taken. This is known as deviating from the standard of care.

Healthcare professionals may deviate from the standard of care by:

Failing to obtain an adequate medical and family history from the patient
Failing to order the appropriate tests
Dismissing a patient’s symptoms
Diagnosing the patient with a condition with similar symptoms
Performing medical tests incorrectly
Misinterpreting test results
Misreading biopsies or scans
Failing to identify abnormal cell activity
Failing to refer a patient to a specialist
Failing to follow up after conducting tests
Lack of experience or knowledge
Communication breakdowns

Who Is Responsible for a Failed or Delayed Cancer Diagnosis?

The party or parties responsible for a failed cancer diagnosis will depend on the circumstances surrounding why the proper diagnosis did not occur. Various medical professionals could be liable for a delayed cancer diagnosis, such as:

Primary care physicians
Oncologists
Pathologists
Radiologists
Testing laboratories

Our dedicated medical malpractice attorneys can meticulously prepare your legal claim and identify the party responsible for your misdiagnosis.

Which Cancers Are Commonly Misdiagnosed?

While any cancer can potentially be misdiagnosed, some are more likely to cause a misdiagnosis than others because they share symptoms with other medical conditions or are rare. Some of the most commonly misdiagnosed cancers include the following:

Breast cancer
Cervical cancer
Uterine cancer
Ovarian cancer
Colon cancer
Prostate cancer
Thyroid cancer
Lung cancer
Mesothelioma
Esophageal cancer
Skin cancer
Bone cancer

What Financial Compensation Can I Recover Because of a Failed Diagnosis of Cancer?

Diagnostic errors can have severe consequences. Patients who are incorrectly diagnosed with cancer may undergo unnecessary and invasive medical treatment and must deal with the psychological trauma of believing they had such a serious medical condition when they did not. Those who are not diagnosed with cancer when they have the condition can miss out on lifesaving medical treatment and may need to undergo more aggressive medical treatments due to the healthcare provider’s negligence.

Due to these severe consequences, damages in failure to diagnose cancer cases can be significant and may include the following:

Medical expenses: Through a personal injury claim, you can seek compensation for the additional medical expenses you incurred due to the delayed diagnosis, including for chemotherapy, radiation, hormone therapy, immunotherapy, hospital stays, surgeries, rehabilitation, and mental health counseling.

Lost income: You can seek compensation for wages you lost while recovering from treatment. You can also pursue compensation for long-term income losses if the delayed cancer diagnosis caused permanent impairments, incapacities, or reduced earning capacity.
Pain and suffering: More aggressive medical treatments or complications from metastasized cancer cells can lead to considerable pain and suffering. You can seek compensation for your physical, mental, and emotional pain and suffering.
Loss of enjoyment of life: More aggressive forms of cancer can take over your life, prevent you from enjoying your favorite pastimes, and adversely affect your relationship with loved ones. You can seek compensation for these losses that can interfere with your life enjoyment.

Our experienced medical malpractice lawyers can investigate your claim and determine all the damages that can be claimed as part of your medical malpractice case.

Filing a Failure to Diagnose Cancer Lawsuit

At Powers & Santola, LLP, we have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation for our clients. Often, we can secure maximum compensation through an insurance claim, thereby saving our clients the need to go to trial. However, we prepare every case for trial so we can always negotiate from a position of strength and, in case it’s necessary, to file a lawsuit to secure the compensation our clients deserve.

Filing a lawsuit for a cancer misdiagnosis involves several steps, including:

Investigation and Expert Review

New York law allows you to hold medical professionals and/or medical facilities liable for damages patients suffer due to misdiagnosis. An experienced lawyer can review your medical records, gather necessary evidence, and determine if your healthcare professional’s conduct rises to the level of malpractice.

Before filing a lawsuit, medical experts can provide an opinion about why the failed diagnosis occurred. Their findings are noted on a certificate of merit, which accompanies your legal complaint.

Legal Complaint

The complaint is the formal document that sets out your cause of action. It explains your theory as to how the failed diagnosis occurred, who is responsible for the situation, and how much compensation you are seeking for your damages.

Summons and Response

A summons is issued and served on the defendant, notifying them that a lawsuit has been filed against them. It states the timeframe within which they must respond to the complaint to avoid a default judgment.

Discovery

Next, both sides participate in the discovery process, exchanging information to help prepare for the case.

Pretrial Motions

Attorneys may file various motions before trial, such as motions to dismiss or motions for summary judgment. The court decides how to rule on these motions and how they affect your case.

Mediation and Negotiations

The court will encourage the parties to settle their case and engage in negotiations. The parties may agree to participate in mediation, a form of alternative dispute resolution in which a neutral mediator facilitates settlement discussions between the parties. Many cancer misdiagnosis cases end at this stage.

Trial

If the case has not been settled up to this point, it will proceed to trial. Attorneys from both sides argue their case in front of a judge or jury. They present evidence and witnesses and challenge the other side’s witnesses and evidence. At the end of a trial, the judge or jury delivers a verdict.

How Much Does a Medical Malpractice Lawyer Cost?

Even when someone strongly believes that someone else is responsible for their injuries, they may be hesitant to take legal action because they are afraid they cannot afford to pay for legal services, especially when facing other unexpected expenses. However, our medical malpractice and personal injury lawyers work on a contingency fee basis, so you do not have to pay anything up front to retain our legal services. Instead, we receive a percentage of the financial recovery we obtain on your behalf.

While personal injury attorneys generally determine the amount they set for their fees, New York Judiciary Law Section 474-A sets the amount of attorney fees in medical malpractice cases. Under this law, a sliding fee scale applies, with a higher percentage charged for lower results. For example, the contingency fee is 30% of the first $250,000 recovered, 25% of the next $250,000 recovered, and 10% for any amount over $1.25 million recovered.

These percentages are calculated on the net sum recovered after deducting certain expenses, including payments for expert witness testimony and investigative services. We can explain our contingency fee arrangement when you call for your free case review.

What Is the Statute of Limitations for Filing a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit in New York?

The general statute of limitations for medical malpractice claims in New York is two and a half years. This time limit usually begins ticking down after the date of the medical treatment or the last day of medical services in the case of continuous treatment. However, an exception exists under New York law that applies to claims involving cancer misdiagnosis.

Under this exception, the statute of limitations begins when the misdiagnosis of cancer is discovered, giving cancer patients more time to file their lawsuit.

Special timing and notice rules apply if the hospital is operated by a city, a county, or the State of New York.

If you don’t file a medical malpractice lawsuit within the applicable statute of limitations, you can be forever barred from doing so. An experienced attorney can review your particular situation and explain the deadline that applies.

Contact Our Law Firm Today for a Free Consultation

If you would like to learn about your legal rights and options following a failed or delayed cancer diagnosis, Powers & Santola, LLP is here to help. Our compassionate lawyers can review your case, explain your legal options, and support you throughout every step of the legal process. Contact us today for your free, no-obligation consultation.

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