Why Considerable Holdup By Physician In Detecting Colon Cancer Might Result In Death Of Young Person

Around ten percent people diagnosed with colon cancer are under the age of 50. Yet, because of the lethal nature of the disease doctors typically concur that rectal bleeding, even in a patient below 50, has to be followed by a colonoscopy to verify whether the bleeding from a tumor or some other cause. Merely supposing that the blood is caused by hemorrhoids falls below the standard of care.

Too often physicians do not order a colonoscopy or send the individual to a specialist when a individual complains of rectal bleeding or blood in the stool. Instead, these doctors merely assume that the symptom is the result of hemorrhoids. This is particularly common if the individual is less than 50 years old.

Think about the following not infrequent situation. Men and women in their twenties, thirties or forties may start to discover blood in their stool. Occasionally individuals in this situation have no other symptoms. Other times though there might be one or more extra indications accompanying the blood. One such potential indication is constipation. Most physicians would recognize that blood in the stool may be from colon cancer and that reports of blood in the stool thus ought to lead to referring that patient either to a gastroenterologist or for a colonoscopy. Nonetheless there are doctors who may either totally dismiss the symptoms, attribute them to other causes such as hemorrhoids, or treat the symptoms without knowing the true cause by prescribing a laxative or even an enema if the patient has constipation as a symptom. These physicians regularly assure the patient that there is nothing to be worried about.

Of course, sometimes this person is subsequently diagnosed with metastasis, meaning that at that point is advanced due to the delay from the doctor not doing any tests at the time the individual originally complained of blood in the stool. At some point the person's symptoms may become considerably worse. In certain instances the patient might begin to lose weight without a change in their diet or in the amount of exercise they do or may develop anemia due to the on going loss of blood. In still other cases the person may encounter obstruction and be unable to have a bowel movement. This may be extremely painful and may force the individual to go to the hospital. The issue is that when the symptoms turn out to be so severe that they can no longer be overlooked and the cancer is at last discovered, it may have metastasized. Once the cancer gets to stage four the 5 year survival rate is roughly six percent.

If a matter such as that occurs and the patient either has to battle with metastatic cancer or passes away for the reason that the cancer progressed to where it was no longer curable because of the delay in diagnosis the surviving family may be able to bring a lawsuit against the physician who caused the delay.

The laws of the jurisdiction involved make a difference. For example, there are time limits (generally referred to as Statutes of Limitations) that limit the time within which a plaintiff can bring a lawsuit. Also, the standard of care can sometimes vary based on the jurisdiction. What constitutes harm in cancer cases also varies by jurisdiction. And clearly, the extent of the metastasis and the amount of delay is important. If the delay was very short, for example, it is likely going to be very difficult or even impossible to establish that the cancer had not yet metastasized or that the person had a considerably higher probability of beating the cancer. Exactly what the prerequisites are to establish causation again varies from one jurisdiction to another. A skilled medical malpractice attorney can assist the patient or the family figure out whether they have a claim.