Schenectady Delayed & Failure to Diagnose Cancer Lawyers

Have you recently learned that you or a loved one has cancer and that the cancer diagnosis was delayed? If so, you are likely grappling with difficult emotions. It’s okay to feel angry and frustrated with your medical team. You depended on them to provide you with an accurate and timely diagnosis. You may be able to pursue justice and accountability through a medical malpractice claim.

Since 1987, our personal injury and medical malpractice lawyers have zealously protected the legal rights of those injured by others’ negligence. We can discuss your particular situation during a free case review. Call us today to get started.

A misdiagnosis of cancer can take several different forms. Each form represents its own unique set of consequences and potential causes. Understanding the type of cancer misdiagnosis you suffered from can help you better understand your legal options for financial recovery.

Failure to Diagnose 

A failure to diagnose occurs when a doctor or lab fails to diagnose you with cancer, even though you have the condition. Consequently, you do not receive the medical treatment you need until some other healthcare provider accurately diagnoses you with the condition. In the worst situations, the patient dies without ever receiving a correct diagnosis. 

Misdiagnosis

A misdiagnosis is an incorrect diagnosis. This occurs when a medical provider says that you have a medical condition that you do not have instead of the cancer you later discovered you had. Misdiagnosis can be particularly dangerous because you are not receiving the medical treatment you need for cancer, and you may be receiving medical treatment for a condition you do not have that could be harming you or masking the symptoms of cancer.

Delayed Diagnosis

A delayed diagnosis occurs when a medical professional correctly diagnoses the cancer but after an unreasonable delay. These diagnostic errors can result in the patient not being able to use less invasive medical treatment options or the cancer spreading. For example, an early diagnosis may have allowed the cancer patient to use chemotherapy or radiation treatment, but a delay could mean that surgery is required. Tragically, in some delayed diagnosis cases, cancer patients may not discover they have cancer until the cancer has spread to other regions of their body, making the condition terminal. 

What Cancers Are Commonly Misdiagnosed?

According to the Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine, cancer is misdiagnosed in 11.1% of patients. Cancer may be misdiagnosed for various reasons. One common reason for misdiagnosis is when healthcare providers mistake signs and symptoms of cancer for some other medical condition. Here is more information about some of the most common types of cancers that medical professionals misdiagnose. 

Lung Cancer Misdiagnosis 

Lung cancer represents 22.5% of misdiagnosed cancer cases. This may be due to its relative frequency and the easy ability to diagnose it for other conditions because of common symptoms, such as:

• Shortness of breath 
• Coughing 
• Wheezing
• Hoarse-sounding voice
• Lung 

Medical providers may erroneously diagnose a patient with these symptoms with other medical conditions, such as upper respiratory infections, pneumonia, asthma, bronchitis, tuberculosis, or other respiratory conditions. 

Breast Cancer Misdiagnosis 

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women, accounting for roughly one in three new cancer cases for women each year. Breast cancer represents 8.9% of all misdiagnosed cancer cases. Breast cancer may be diagnosed for other conditions, such as:

• A cyst, or collection of liquid in tissue
• Mastitis or breast inflammation
• Fibrocystic breast disease, a benign medical condition that causes a different breast texture

Melanoma Cancer Misdiagnosis 

Melanoma is one of the most common cancers people suffer from in the United States. About 59,170 men and 41,470 women are expected to be diagnosed with melanoma, while about 5,430 men and 2,860 women are estimated to die from this disease. 

Misdiagnosed melanoma represents about 13.6% of all misdiagnosed cancer cases. Melanoma may be misdiagnosed as a benign mole or a condition like seborrheic keratosis. 

Colorectal Cancer Misdiagnosis 

Colorectal cancer makes up about 9.6% of annual misdiagnosed cancer cases each year. This condition can be misdiagnosed as inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome, or hemorrhoids. 

Pancreatic Cancer Misdiagnosis 

Because pancreatic cancer can cause symptoms in the patient’s digestive tract, it is often misdiagnosed for conditions such as:

• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Gallstones
• Pancreatitis
• Diabetes

Regardless of the type of cancer you have, your doctor owes you a duty of care to properly assess your symptoms, order proper tests, and accurately diagnose your condition. 

The Severe Consequences of Cancer Misdiagnosis

A missed or delayed cancer diagnosis can complicate your medical treatment or even lead to death. According to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, when cancer is not detected and allowed to spread, it can mean the difference between successful treatment and an incurable condition. One study suggested that a delay in treatment by only a month can have between a 6% and 13% greater risk of causing the patient’s death. Delays of even longer intervals can result in even higher risks. The same study estimated an eight-week delay in a breast cancer diagnosis could result in an increased mortality rate of 17%, while a twelve-week delay had a mortality rate of 26%.

Even if another healthcare provider is able to diagnose your cancer in time to treat it, you could still face serious consequences, including:

• More complicated medical treatment – You may require more complicated medical procedures to treat the condition, which may have more side effects and could cause complications. 
• Fewer treatment options – You may require more invasive medical treatment, such as chemotherapy or surgery to treat the cancer when less invasive methods would have been available if your healthcare provider had caught the cancer in time.
• More severe complications and side effects – Depending on the spreading of cancer and your treatment options, you could be facing severe health complications, such as having to remove parts of your body, fertility loss, or sexual dysfunction. Cancer treatments may cause nausea, vomiting, fatigue, and other side effects that are difficult to live with.
• Monetary losses – More invasive medical treatment often means more expensive medical bills. You may also have to take time off work for treatment, potentially resulting in job loss or a reduction in your long-term earning potential. 

When your doctor makes this type of life-or-death mistake, you need an experienced attorney on your side who will work to hold the negligent healthcare provider accountable for the harm you’ve suffered.