QUESTION
Dr. was not honest about husbands cancer diagnosis
Asked on Nov 25th, 2013 on Medical Malpractice - Washington
More details to this question:
My husband passed away on Nov 1st of this year of Lung Cancer. He was diagnosed in 2011. For the first 9 months of treatment he did very well, or so we thought, because his tumor had shrunk so small you could barely see it on an xray. What the Dr. failed to tell us was that it had reached his lymphnodes. After 9 months he started going downhill and was put on a different chemo, but he continued to get worse and worse. We decided to move out of state and talked to his Oncologist about it and he ok'd it,(even though it would delay him starting a new chemotherapy) and referred us to an Oncologist near where we would live. He also told us the results of some xrays and a catscan my husband had several days earlier. He said my husband's tumor was growing. He never said anything else. So, we moved a couple weeks later. We decided to go to The Cancer Treatment Centers of America and we were told there, that my husbands cancer had spread to his stomach, his liver and his lymphnodes. After
1 ANSWER
Catastrophic Injury Attorney serving Roseland, NJ
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John J. Ratkowitz
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I am sorry for your loss.
The big question in most failure to diagnose cancer cases is whether the patient can prove that the doctor’s negligent care 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). They take these cases on a contingency basis which means you only have to pay if you succeed. Additionally, 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. If you are unable to find a lawyer who meets these qualifications within your state, sometimes you may contact an out of state lawyer who can refer you to a qualified attorney in your state while providing support related to the issues of medicine.
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 and should expect when pursuing a medical malpractice case.
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Answered on Nov 25th, 2013 at 7:17 PM