Medical Malpractice

Medical malpractice occurs when a member of the medical community fails to follow the proper standard of care and a patient is injured as a result. While there are many forms of medical malpractice, women are most commonly affected by a misdiagnosis of breast or cervical cancer. A cancer misdiagnosis can lead to a delay in treatment, giving the disease the opportunity to spread. Unfortunately, for many misdiagnosed women, this may significantly decrease their chance of survival.

Breast Cancer Misdiagnosis

Breast cancer, one of the most commonly misdiagnosed cancers, will affect 1 in 8 women during their lifetime. Although breast cancer is treatable, the patient's prognosis is typically better when the disease is detected in the earlier stages. If a diagnosis is delayed or incorrect, the cancer may spread, significantly decreasing the patient's chance of survival.

A misdiagnosis of breast cancer most commonly occurs when a doctor fails to order additional tests after a negative mammogram from a sizeable breast lump. When a doctor fails to follow the standard of care for diagnosing breast cancer, the patient may be eligible for a medical malpractice lawsuit. Damages resulting from a breast cancer misdiagnosis lawsuit typically include compensation for medical bills, lost wages and pain and suffering. Depending on the circumstances, the injured party may also be eligible for a variety of other economic and non-economic damages.

Cervical Cancer Misdiagnosis

The development of the pap smear test has helped thousands of women avoid cervical cancer, another commonly misdiagnosed disease. Unfortunately, when a doctor fails to perform, read, or report the results of the pap smear correctly, the patient may not be aware of abnormal cell changes until the cancer has progressed significantly. When a physican fails to meet this standard of care, the patient who received a cervical cancer misdiagnosis may be eligible for compensation.

Types of Medical Malpractice

Misdiagnosis is not the only form of medical malpractice. In general, medical malpractice occurs when a healthcare professional fails to provide the standard of care to a patient, who suffers an injury as a result. While medical malpractice can take many forms, the three general categories of medical negligence are:

Failure to Diagnose/Misdiagnosis: When a doctor fails to diagnose an illness correctly, the patient may be deprived of proper diagnostic testing and subsequent treatment to improve their condition. This loss holds particularly true in cases of cancer or other diseases where early treatment is vital to the patient's survival.

Two of the most common forms of cancer misdiagnosis are diseases affecting women--breast cancer and cervical cancer. In fact, mammograms, which are used to detect breast abnormalities, have a false-negative rate of at least 10%.

Improper Treatment: This form of medical malpractice can stem from a variety of circumstances. For instance, a doctor may perform a surgery that had a high risk of complications and did not justify the treatment. Another common type of improper treatment is wrong site surgery.

Failure to Warn: Negligent nondisclosure occurs when a doctor did not inform the patient of all risks associated with a particular form of treatment.

Additional forms of medical malpractice include birth injuries, medication errors and emergency room malpractice.

Our medical malpractice lawyers have handled hundreds of cases stemming from breast cancer misdiagnosis, anesthesia errors and surgical errors, just to name a few.

Contact us to get your medical malpractice case evaluated and your questions answered.