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.