Cervical Cancer Screening Failures and Malpractice in Pennsylvania

Cervical cancer should not reach an advanced stage in a woman who has been receiving regular gynecological care. The tools available to detect cervical cancer precursors — HPV testing, Pap smears, colposcopy, and biopsy — are reliable, widely available, and covered by insurance. When a woman is diagnosed with Stage III or Stage IV cervical cancer after years of seeing her gynecologist, the question is not just a medical one. It is a legal one.

At Lupetin & Unatin, LLC, we investigate cervical cancer malpractice cases involving failures at every stage of the screening and diagnostic process. We have seen cases in which abnormal results were never communicated to patients, in which high-grade lesions were dismissed without follow-up, and in which symptoms that should have triggered immediate evaluation were attributed to stress or hormonal changes for months or years.

If this is your story, you deserve to know whether someone was negligent — and whether that negligence cost you time, treatment options, and prognosis you should have had.

The Current Standard of Care for Cervical Cancer Screening

Pennsylvania physicians are held to a national standard of care. In 2025 and 2026, that standard is as follows:

• Women ages 25 to 65: Primary HPV testing every five years is the preferred approach, according to the American Cancer Society. Co-testing (HPV plus Pap) every five years or Pap smear alone every three years are acceptable alternatives.
• Women under 25: Most current guidelines recommend against routine screening before age 25, as HPV infections in younger women typically resolve on their own. However, women with symptoms or high-risk factors may require earlier evaluation.
• Women over 65: Screening may appropriately stop if the patient has had at least 10 years of consistently normal results. But this stopping point must be documented and individually assessed — it is not automatic.
• Women with abnormal results: An abnormal Pap or positive HPV test is the beginning of a defined clinical pathway, not the end of the process. Depending on the result, follow-up may include colposcopy, biopsy, repeat testing at a shorter interval, or specialist referral.

A physician who is not familiar with these current guidelines, who fails to apply them to a specific patient’s situation, or who fails to document individualized clinical reasoning for deviations from them may be departing from the standard of care.

The Five Failure Patterns We See Most Often

Cervical cancer malpractice cases are not all the same. The failure can occur at multiple points in the screening and diagnostic process. The most common patterns we investigate are:

• Wrong test or wrong interval: Using a Pap smear alone when HPV testing was indicated, or failing to schedule follow-up at the intervals required by the patient’s prior results and risk factors.
• Failure to communicate abnormal results: The laboratory result comes back abnormal, it is documented in the electronic health record, and the patient is never told. This is one of the most common — and most preventable — failures in outpatient medicine.
• Failure to follow up on abnormal results: The patient is notified but no colposcopy is ordered, no referral is made, and the chart shows no documented follow-up plan. The physician may have assumed the patient would self-refer or simply forgotten.
• Dismissal of symptoms: A patient reports post-coital bleeding, abnormal discharge, or pelvic pain. The physician attributes it to something benign and takes no further action. These symptoms, particularly in combination, should trigger cervical evaluation regardless of recent screening history.
• Laboratory error: The Pap smear or HPV sample is incorrectly processed or interpreted. A slide showing cellular abnormalities is read as normal. These errors are often identified only when the patient’s records are reviewed by an independent pathologist.

What an Abnormal Result Actually Requires

The ASCCP (American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology) has published detailed, updated guidelines for the management of abnormal cervical cancer screening results. These guidelines are risk-based and specify the appropriate clinical response for every combination of Pap result, HPV result, and patient history.

The key principle is this: when a result is abnormal, the standard of care requires action — not reassurance, not watchful waiting without a documented rationale, and not hope that the next annual visit will sort things out. The action required depends on the specific result, but it always requires something. A physician who receives an abnormal result and does nothing has departed from the standard of care.

High-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSIL) require colposcopy. Positive HPV with certain cytology results requires colposcopy. Persistent low-grade abnormalities require colposcopy. The guidelines are specific. When they are not followed, and cancer develops, the harm is legally actionable.

Stage at Diagnosis Matters Enormously

The legal significance of a delayed cervical cancer diagnosis is directly tied to the stage at which the cancer was ultimately found versus the stage at which it should have been found. Stage I cervical cancer has a five-year survival rate above 90%. By Stage III, that rate drops to roughly 40 to 50%. By Stage IV, it drops further still.

When we evaluate a case, one of the first things we assess is the “diagnostic window” — the period during which the cancer was detectable through appropriate screening but was not detected because the standard of care was not met. The longer that window, the more profound the harm, and the stronger the connection between the negligence and the patient’s outcome.

Even in cases where the patient ultimately survives, the difference in treatment burden can be enormous — a patient who could have been treated with minimally invasive surgery at Stage I may instead require radical surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy at Stage III or IV. That difference in treatment, and its impact on quality of life, is fully compensable.

Pennsylvania Statute of Limitations

In Pennsylvania, medical malpractice claims must generally be filed within two years of the date the patient knew or reasonably should have known that the injury was caused by negligence. In cervical cancer cases, the clock typically starts running at diagnosis — when the patient first had reason to question whether earlier detection was possible. Because the statute of limitations is strictly enforced, we urge anyone with questions to contact an attorney as soon as possible after diagnosis.

About Lupetin & Unatin, LLC

Lupetin & Unatin is a boutique medical malpractice firm based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. We have represented women throughout Pennsylvania in cervical cancer malpractice cases involving missed HPV results, unreported Pap smear abnormalities, and failure to follow up on gynecological symptoms. Our attorneys are Fellows of the American College of Trial Lawyers and have been recognized by Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers in America. We handle all cases on a contingency fee basis — no fee unless we recover for you.