QUESTION
My wife was told to come back in 10 years after her test showed hemorrhoids. She now has 3rd degree cancer. Do we have a case?
Asked on Mar 17th, 2013 on Personal Injury - Florida
More details to this question:
3 years ago, my wife had colonoscopy and report showed hemorrhoids. She was told to come back in 10 years. Now, she has been to the hospital for blockage and her new colonscopy test showed 3rd degree cancer at same location as the hemorrhoids 3 years prior. This has devastated us both, especially since she was told to come back in 10 years. This is all documented in the report. She is only 47 years old. Could there be a case here?
8 ANSWERS
Health Law/Long Term Care Facilities for the Elderly Attorney serving Los Angeles, CA
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Murchison & Cumming, LLP
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Go see an attorney right away. He will have your case evaluate by an expert to determine if you have a viable claim. Don't wait, do this tomorrow; don't wait any longer; you have short fuse on statute of limitations in a med mal case.
Answered on Mar 19th, 2013 at 12:21 PM
Ronald A. Steinberg
Unless you are a medical expert, you need a second opinion. Hemorrhoids are inside and outside the anus. I suspect she has cancer elsewhere than at the anus.
Answered on Mar 18th, 2013 at 9:31 PM
Personal Injury Attorney serving Marietta, GA
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Law Office of Ronald Arthur Lowry
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Could be. You will need to have an expert review the photos of the colonoscopy and look at the records.
Answered on Mar 18th, 2013 at 3:02 PM
Thomas Edward Gates
Only if you can show that the two are related. The 10 year recall is standard for finding no cancer. They should have tested the hemorrhoids to see if they were cancerous.
Answered on Mar 18th, 2013 at 3:02 PM
James Eugene Hasser
Maybe, if they missed the diagnosis. You will have to have another Dr. in the same field look at the old and new one. You have 6 months to sue from the date of the cancer diagnosis, so you better talk to a lawyer familiar with Alabama medical malpractice law quickly.
Answered on Mar 18th, 2013 at 3:01 PM
Personal Injury Attorney serving Charlotte, NC
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Paul Whitfield and Associates P.A.
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Not likely. You get colonoscopy every 5 or 10 years. There is no guarantee that you wont contract cancer in between times, having and passing a test like that has value only at that date. It is up to you to stay up to date with health care and checkups.
Answered on Mar 18th, 2013 at 3:01 PM
Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Attorney serving Syracuse, NY
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Andrew T. Velonis, P.C.
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In NY the statute of limitations for medical malpractice is 30 months. That can be extended if there had been treatment for the condition in the meantime. In order to prove a medical malpractice case, a claimant must prove a failure to conform to accepted practice, resulting in an injury. A bad result is not enough, and if it is a "judgment call" by the doctor, there is no malpractice, even if the doctor made the wrong call. Your wife will need to get copies of all of her medical records and have a doctor review them; if he/she is willing to testify that your previous doctor failed to conform to accepted practice, then there is a case
Answered on Mar 18th, 2013 at 3:00 PM
Automobile Negligence Attorney serving Orlando, FL
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Kelaher Law Offices, P.A.
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There possibly could, but you would first need a verified medical opinion from the same specialty as the doctor who did the colonoscopy, attesting to the treating doctor's malpractice, and you would need an opinion from an oncologist that the delay made a significant difference in your wife's medical outcome.
Answered on Mar 18th, 2013 at 2:59 PM