The oversight or delay of diagnosis of a serious condition or disease almost always leads to severe complications and often death. Misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis can lead to reduced life expectancy; more invasive, aggressive and costly treatment; loss of income due to time spent receiving treatment and in the worst case, premature death.
Hance & Srinivasan, P.L.L.C., is especially experienced with medical malpractice cases involving the failure to diagnose or the misdiagnosis of serious medical conditions. The following represents the most common types of illnesses and conditions that fail to be diagnosed properly.
Breast Cancer
Here are the facts:
- Someone dies of breast cancer every 14 minutes.
- There is more than a 97 percent five-year survival rate when localized breast cancer is caught before it spreads to other parts of the body.
- After skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common type of cancer among women in the United States.
- An estimated 200,000 women and 2,000 men are diagnosed with breast cancer each year in the United States.
No one wants to be diagnosed with breast cancer. Patients may be so relieved to hear a non-cancer diagnosis that they don't question it. Unfortunately, there are several scenarios in which results look like no cancer is present but later test results show that it in fact was:
- A lump was detected in a physical breast examination but did not show up on a mammogram
- A lump was or was not detected in a physical examination, but the mammogram or ultrasound was misread
- A biopsy is taken, but misread
- A biopsy was taken, but missed the mass in question
A failure to follow through on standards of care after a patient receives a non-cancer diagnosis means he or she will not receive the treatment in a timely and life-saving manner. If you or someone you love has been misdiagnosed or received a delayed diagnosis of breast cancer that has resulted in severe, unnecessary complications or death, please contact Hance & Srinivasan to discuss the individual nature of your situation.
Lung Cancer
Lung disease is the third most prevalent killer in America and responsible for one in six deaths; and yet it is one of the most commonly misdiagnosed types of cancer. With delayed detection, the cancer has more time to grow, thereby increasing the difficulty of treatment or allowing it to progress to an untreatable stage.
Mistakes that have been made by doctors or health care professionals that have led to a misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis of lung cancer include:
- Lung cancer symptoms are mistaken for another condition
- Necessary tests (MRIs, biopsies, X-rays) are not performed
- Poor assessment of test results
- Tumor misdiagnosed as benign
- Non-smokers are under diagnosed
Colon and Rectal Cancer
In 2008, colon and rectal cancer (colorectal cancer) claimed 49,960 lives in the United States. Not counting skin cancers, colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer found in men and women in this country. Although it has one of the highest cure rates when caught early (93 percent at stage one), it also is one of the most misdiagnosed diseases.
When a misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis is made and the cancer advances, the patient faces extensive surgeries (including ileostomy) and intense chemotherapy that can have debilitating effects on the overall quality of life or even death. Misdiagnosed or delayed diagnosis of colorectal cancer has occurred when health care providers have:
- Failed to refer patients for Familial Adenomatous Polyposis (FAP) screening
- Misinterpreted results or mixed them up with other patients' results
- Failed to properly evaluate patients' complaints of rectal bleeding
If you or someone you love has been misdiagnosed or received a delayed diagnosis of colorectal cancer that has resulted in severe, unnecessary complications or death, please contact Hance & Srinivasan to discuss the individual nature of your situation.
We believe it is important to be informed about the dangers of cancer, and we encourage you to visit our resources page for more information regarding the risk factors, symptoms and testing for this deadly disease.
Heart Attack
The statistics surrounding heart disease and heart attacks in the United States are alarming:
- A heart attack occurs about every 20 seconds.
- One heart attack death occurs approximately every minute.
- Almost 14 million Americans have a history of heart attack or angina.
A heart attack happens when your heart muscle does not get enough blood because the arteries supplying blood to the heart are partially or severely blocked. The signs of a heart attack vary, but in general include:
- Chest discomfort in the center of the chest lasting more than a few minutes, or that goes away and comes back. This can feel like uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain.
- Upper body pain and discomfort, such as in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach
- Shortness of breath with or without chest discomfort
- Breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness
A delayed or misdiagnosis of a heart attack can occur when:
- Symptoms are ignored or misinterpreted by a health care provider
- A health care provider fails to order needed tests
The American Heart Association is a national voluntary health agency to help reduce disability and death from cardiovascular diseases and stroke.
If you or someone you love has been misdiagnosed or received a delayed diagnosis of heart attack that has resulted in severe, unnecessary complications or death, please contact Hance & Srinivasan to discuss the individual nature of your situation.
Appendicitis
Appendicitis is the inflammation of the appendix, a small pouch attached to the large intestine. It is one of the most common causes of emergency abdominal surgery in the United States and one of the most misdiagnosed health conditions.
According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, the rate of misdiagnosis in certain populations of patients may be as high as 40 percent. Older persons and women are more likely to be misdiagnosed than men and are more likely to have unnecessary surgery to remove a normal, healthy appendix. Most delayed diagnoses or misdiagnoses of appendicitis are the result of the following:
- Careless history taking
- Careless physical examination
- Failure to perform follow-through testing (abdominal CT scan, abdominal ultrasound, diagnostic laparoscopy)
If you or someone you love has been misdiagnosed or received a delayed diagnosis of appendicitis that has resulted in severe, unnecessary complications or death, please contact Hance & Srinivasan to discuss the individual nature of your situation.
