A 45-year-old man was treated by a non-board certified internist for his complaints of rectal bleeding for three years.  The internist had conducted a flexible sigmoidoscopy and was certain that the bleeding was from hemorrhoids.  The patient ended up having cancer and the three year delay prohibited him from having the pre-cancerous lesion removed through a simple operation.  Instead, the man had to have major surgery where part of his rectum was removed and was subjected to radiation therapy and almost a year of chemotherapy.

Many lessons can be taken from this situation.  First, you should always see a board certified physician.  If you are experiencing rectal bleeding, you need to get a colonoscopy, as this symptom can indicate cancer. Colon and rectal cancer are slow growing, so the faster you start treating it, the better the outcome.

For information regarding medical malpractice, read Ben Glass’s book, Why Most Malpractice Victims Never Recover a Dime.

In a misdiagnosis of cancer case, you have to prove that the medical provider failed to take the necessary steps that would lead to the cancer diagnosis.  You also have to show that if the cancer had been diagnosed earlier, you treatment options, medical care and prognosis would have been vastly different.  If the cancer was missed, but the delay in diagnosis was so short that the treatment, care and prognosis are the same, it can be challenging trying to recover damages.

There are certain diagnostic tests used to detect cancer.  For example, a colonoscopy is the “gold standard” for testing for colon and rectal cancer.  Mammograms are used to screen for breast cancer and to determine if further tests are needed.

If you believe that you or a family member has suffered because of a cancer misdiagnosis, you need to order Ben Glass’s popular book, Why Most Victims of Medical Malpractice Never Recover a Dime.  This book explains the malpractice claims process and how to find the right Virginia medical malpractice lawyer.