QUESTION
Can we sue the doctor for the CTCL misdiagnosis?
Asked on Aug 30th, 2013 on Personal Injury - New York
More details to this question:
My husband was diagnosed with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma about 4 years ago. A rash on his groin was biopsied. He has been treated with many high dose steroid creams. None of them have ever worked for him. The rash gets worse and then better and never gone away. It burns and itches causing him daily irritation. The rash randomly shows up in random places mostly his groin area, buttocks and under his arms. We have tried many OTC creams. Not to mention the many prescribed. The rash became so bad that he returned many times to the dermatologist. He barely looked at. The last time another doctor looked at it (his derm was unavailable). She biopsied in 5 different locations. None of them came back T-cell lymphoma. Instead it came back as fungal. He was prescribed anti-fungal antibiotics, prednisone and a fungal wash. The rash is almost gone. Turns out he doesn't have t cell lymphoma. All this time he has been mentally suffering (as well as our family) thinking he had lymphoma.
4 ANSWERS
Ronald A. Steinberg
If you can find a doctor who will testify that the initial diagnosis was incorrect and that making that incorrect diagnosis was a deviation from the standard of practice, then you can sue the doctor. If so, your husband is entitled to collect for all foreseeable damages that resulted from the mistaken diagnosis.
Answered on Sep 05th, 2013 at 8:25 AM
James Eugene Hasser
Yes, but it would likely cost more to pursue it than you are likely to get out of it.
Answered on Sep 03rd, 2013 at 1:49 PM
Personal Injury -- Plaintiff Attorney serving Cleveland, OH
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Mishkind Law Firm, Co., L.P.A.
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A misdiagnosis of this type may be a basis for a lawsuit. If the diagnosis was clearly in error and not within the differential and should not have been diagnosed you should talk to an attorney that has expertise in this type of case. If the treatment that your husband received was unnecessary and harmful the consequences of unnecessary treatment needs to be evaluated. The mental stress over being treated for a serious medical condition that he did not have may result in damages being awarded for the suffering he has gone through. This needs to be evaluated in terms of the psychological aspects. Feel free to contact my office if you want for a no cost, no obligation consultation in terms of the specifics of your claim.
Answered on Sep 03rd, 2013 at 10:15 AM
Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Attorney serving Syracuse, NY
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Andrew T. Velonis, P.C.
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I can't answer this definitively, but on the narrative you present, I am not impressed. Here's why: you state that the diagnosis was based on a biopsy. That indicates to me that the initial treating physician suspected the lymphoma, ordered the biopsy to confirm, it came back positive, and he/she acted on that information. Medical science is not an exact science and for that reason, doctors must be allowed to use their judgment, even if that means that the doctor does not make the right call, and even if bad results come about. Finally, medical malpractice cases are always expensive and time consuming regardless of how solid the evidence or egregious the conduct. For that reason, unless there are catastrophic injuries, it is not practical to pursue a claim even if malpractice was committed.
Answered on Sep 03rd, 2013 at 10:14 AM