QUESTION
My husband was treated for chronic bronchitis for over 3 years when in January, 2012, a tumor was found in his lung. He has since passed away.
Asked on Aug 13th, 2012 on Medical Malpractice - Minnesota
More details to this question:
They discovered an infection surrounding a cancerous tumor after several tests. He did complain to the Dr. of shortness of breath, but they just kept saying it was bronchitis, allergies, etc for years. Pulmonary specialist told us that he had had the tumor/infection for years and didn''t know why something was not done earlier. Medical records are very incomplete and lack most of what he was in for. Primary physician did not seem to like my husband and did not treat him very well. Kept telling him that he should quit drinking his couple of beers a night and seemed to think everything stemmed from that. I was with him several of the times that he went to see her and she didn''t seem to listen to him at all. I had to get a little perturbed with her attitude before she would take an xray. I think they were negligent in the care that they gave him over the years and possibly had the cancer removed before it got to stage 4, which was determined by PET scan shortly before death.
1 ANSWER
Catastrophic Injury Attorney serving Roseland, NJ
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John J. Ratkowitz
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You may have a malpractice case. If you want to investigate this 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.
All failure to diagnose cancer cases involve issues of proximate cause. The question will be whether earlier intervention would have changed the outcome. An attorney will have to review the medical records and 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, the questions become whether the cancer was present at that point, and if so, what was the likely stage/prognosis. These are difficult cases because they inevitably involve a degree of speculation.
Below are some articles you may find helpful. They are written for a New Jersey audience (where I practice) but the ideas discussed in these articles usually apply in most other jurisdictions as well.
Click here for an article that discusses the three main questions I ask when deciding whether to investigate a potential medical malpractice case.
Click here for an article that explains what you can expect when filing a medical malpractice case.
Click here for more information about me. Click here for more information about my firm.
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 Aug 13th, 2012 at 1:51 PM