QUESTION
Do I have a case for medical malpractice against the U.S. military?
Asked on Oct 11th, 2012 on Medical Malpractice - Kansas
More details to this question:
My husband died this year after 4.5 years of fighting brain cancer. In 2008, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor in his right frontal lobe. During an MRI in 1999, they found a spot in his right frontal lobe that they determined needed a follow up exam. Six months later, they conducted the follow up and noted no significant change. In 2004, my husband retired from the military. During his retirement medical screening, they conducted another MRI and again noted the spot in his right frontal lobe. They noted that it needed to be compared to the MRI's in 1999. To our knowledge, they never compared the three MRI's. They recommended that he get a follow up every 2 years. In 2006, my husband stated that he went to the VA for his 2 year check but they didn't conduct an MRI. I feel that had they noted a change in 04 or 06, they could have caught the tumor early enough to have prolonged or even saved his life.
1 ANSWER
Catastrophic Injury Attorney serving Roseland, NJ
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John J. Ratkowitz
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The big question in most failure to diagnose cancer cases is whether the plaintiff can prove that the defendant’s negligent care proximately caused the damages suffered by the plaintiff. In essence, the plaintiff must be able to show that earlier intervention would have changed the outcome. This is a fact sensitive inquiry. An attorney will have to review the medical records and often get experts to review the pertinent radiography films to determine when accepted standards of care should have compelled a doctor to investigate the possible diagnosis. Then, if it is determined that the cancer was present and detectible, the next question becomes what was the likely stage/prognosis when the cancer should have been discovered. If the cancer was at an early stage when it should have been discovered, the case is more likely to be viable.
If you want to investigate your case further, you should contact a local medical malpractice attorney (one in your state). At face value, it sounds like you may have a statute of limitations problem. Initial consultations are usually free. You can use the "Find a Lawyer" service through this website to research medical malpractice attorneys. Then, visit each attorney's website and look for a firm that has a record of successful verdicts.
Click here for an article that discusses the three main questions I ask when deciding whether to investigate a potential medical malpractice case. This discusses the issue of financial viability.
Click here for an article that explains what you can expect when filing a medical malpractice case.
Click here and here for more information about me.
Please note that by attempting to answer your question, I am not acting as your attorney. I will do nothing further to protect or preserve your interests in the absence of any additional discussion with you about this matter. John Ratkowitz, Esq. Starr, Gern, Davison & Rubin, P.C. 105 Eisenhower Parkway Roseland, NJ 07068 Office: (973) 830-8441 Cell: (732) 616-6278 Fax: (973) 226-0031 Email: jratkowitz@starrgern.com Skype: john_ratkowitz Web: www.starrgern.com.
Answered on Oct 12th, 2012 at 1:50 PM