Cancer Misdiagnosis
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Pittsburgh Cancer Misdiagnosis Attorneys
Our attorneys have years of experience handling cases of cancer misdiagnosis due to medical malpractice. In claims where cancer has gone undiagnosed or is misdiagnosed due to medical negligence by a doctor, lab technician, or other medical professional, our Pittsburgh attorneys have the experience and resources to help you find the answers you deserve, and recover financial damages to help ease the burden for you and your family.
Cancer Misdiagnosis
In this video, Pittsburgh medical malpractice attorney Brendan Lupetin discusses the topic of delays in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, and how this can be classified as negligence or malpractice.
“A common area of medical malpractice that we work in is delays in diagnosing and treating various types of cancers. The reasons and circumstances leading up to a delay or misdiagnosis of cancer falls into two types of categories.”
Watch the video to learn more.
Cancer Misdiagnosis FAQ
To successfully pursue a medical malpractice claim due to a failure to diagnose cancer, several critical elements must be proven. First, it must be demonstrated that a doctor-patient relationship existed, affirming that the doctor owed a duty of care to the patient. Next, it must be shown that the doctor did not meet the accepted professional standards of care expected in the medical community, specifically in diagnosing the cancer. Additionally, it must be established that this breach of duty—failing to diagnose the cancer—directly caused the cancer to advance or led to the patient’s death. Each of these elements needs to be supported with evidence that makes them more likely to be true than not, a standard known as the preponderance of the evidence. This rigorous proof is necessary to substantiate a claim in court.
Our legal consultations are always free unless we recover money for you. During the course of our investigation into your cancer misdiagnosis claim, we advance any costs that we deem necessary in the proper handling of your case. If we do not recover money for you, you do not have to return any of the costs incurred associated with your case.
This is called the Contingent Fee.
Contingent fees make it possible for anyone to hire only the very best lawyer to decide if there are grounds for a claim, without paying for that advice. More importantly, it gives everyone access to the justice system and representation equal to the best that insurance companies, doctors, and other defendants can hire.
The law limits the amount of time you have in which to file a medical malpractice case in Pennsylvania.
Statute of Limitations: You typically have two years from the date of injury to file a medical malpractice case in Pennsylvania.
Minors Tolling Statute: In a case where the victim is a child (under 18), the statute of limitations does not apply until the child reaches 18. This means that a claim must be filed before the child turns 20.
In many medical malpractice cases a settlement is reached without trial. In order to determine and agree upon the amount of a settlement, the following factors are considered:
- Establish the full extent of the injury or illness caused by medical malpractice.
- Determine the future needs of the cancer patient, including expected medical costs and costs associated with living with the illness, such as retrofitting of the home, devices and appliances that may be required, & long-term personal care.
- Determine the maximum recovery obtained in similar cancer misdiagnosis cases that may have set a precedent.
- Calculate how much the victim would have reasonably made in wages over the course of their lifetime, or in the case of homemakers, their contribution to the needs of their family. For more information on the value of a homemaker, click here.
- Consider the risks associated with trial and compare those risks for the victim and defendant physicians and nurses or hospital.
When you are awarded a medical malpractice settlement you have two options. Your first option is to take your settlement as a lump sum (i.e. a check for the full amount of their settlement). Your second option is to invest some or all of your settlement in a structured annuity that will pay out chunks of money over time at a guaranteed interest rate.
When you opt for the annuity, you enter into a contract with a life insurance company. You give the insurance company a lump sum payment up front. In return, the insurance company provides you regular money distributions at a guaranteed interest rate over a period of time in the future.
Structured personal injury settlements are income-tax free. In 1982, Congress passed legislation that amended the federal tax code. Their action, The Periodic Payment Settlement Act of 1982, formally recognized and encouraged the use of structured settlements. In response, the Internal Revenue Code was modified to exempt personal injury settlements from taxation so long as the proceeds were invested in a qualified structured settlement annuity. By contrast, the investment earnings on a lump sum payment are generally subject to taxation.
As you approach the settlement of your lawsuit, talk to your lawyer about your options. Ask your lawyer to obtain a variety of proposals from a qualified structured settlement company. Discuss the benefits and implications of structuring some or all of your settlement. Until you sign the annuity contract you are free to do as you wish with your money.
Types Of Cancer Misdiagnosis Cases We Handle
- Brain cancer
- Thyroid and parathyroid cancer
- Head and neck cancer, including oral cancer and laryngeal cancer
- Blood cancer, including multiple myeloma and lymphoma
- Colon cancer
- Kidney cancer
- Bladder and prostate cancer
- Cervical Cancer
- Vaginal & Vulvar Cancer
- Ovarian cancer
Delayed Cancer Diagnosis
Recognizing A Delayed Cancer Diagnosis
To determine whether a doctor or hospital is responsible for medical malpractice associated with a delay in diagnosis of cancer, the lawyers at the Pittsburgh law firm of Lupetin and Unatin answer three questions:
- Did a doctor or hospital miss an opportunity to diagnose cancer?
- Was the opportunity to diagnose cancer missed because of carelessness, i.e., negligence?
- Did the delay in diagnosis cost the patient years from their life?
When somebody is first diagnosed with cancer, they want to know why their cancer was not caught sooner. While exploring the patient’s medical history, the patient and their treating oncologist can uncover missed opportunities for earlier detection and diagnosis of cancer.
The Legal Obligations Of Medical Professionals
Under Pennsylvania law, physicians must have up-to-date medical skills and knowledge. Failing to keep current and use current knowledge in the medical treatment of a patient constitutes negligence under Pa. SSJI (Civ) 14.10. For medical specialists, staying current in their field may involve knowing about the latest research published in medical studies.
Physicians should also be familiar with clinical guidelines established by committees of experts on a particular medical topic. For example, if a pulmonologist is evaluating a patient who has a mass seen on a CT scan of the lungs, the pulmonologist needs to decide whether the patient should undergo more imaging studies or a biopsy, and, if so, when such testing needs to be performed. The pulmonologist must use their training and experience to form a plan to evaluate the mass while also making sure their plan is consistent with the approach for evaluation of a lung mass currently used and accepted by other doctors in their field.
Failure To Detect Cancer Symptoms
Often, the early symptoms of cancer are no different than those seen in common, harmless medical conditions. Muscle pain, fractures, pain or urgency with urination, breast soreness, or a sore throat are examples of conditions treated like temporary problems that will get better as time passes. Yet, each of these symptoms could represent an early sign of cancer, especially when the symptoms persist or reoccur without explanation.
In other cases, the first sign of cancer is in the form of an abnormal growth on the surface of our skin or a mass growing deep within our bodies. Not every abnormal spot on the skin is skin cancer. Not every cyst or lump within a breast is breast cancer. However, specialists like dermatologists and gynecologists must know when to suspect cancer and what tests or treatment will rule in or rule out cancer as soon as possible.
Despite these challenges, there are instances where the failure to diagnose can be directly attributed to medical malpractice. For example, there may be cases where essential tests such as mammograms or biopsies are not performed because they are deemed too costly or unnecessary at the time. This neglect can delay the diagnosis, allowing the cancer to progress to a stage that requires more aggressive treatment or becomes less treatable. In these situations, a patient might have grounds to pursue a legal claim against those responsible for the oversight.
Moreover, errors in the interpretation of tests can also constitute medical malpractice. A radiologist might incorrectly read an imaging scan, failing to identify a tumor, or a pathologist could mishandle a biopsy sample, leading to a false negative result. These errors can have devastating consequences for the patient, who might miss the critical window for early and more effective treatment options.
In such cases, patients or their families might seek the assistance of a cancer misdiagnosis attorney to explore their legal options to hold healthcare providers accountable for the oversight. Pursuing a medical malpractice claim can not only provide compensation for the damages but also help ensure better medical practices in the future.
Determining Whether A Patient’s Life Expectancy Was Reduced
When a medical mistake delays the diagnosis of cancer, the final question a Pittsburgh attorney will ask is whether the delay in treatment reduced the patient’s chances for beating cancer or their life expectancy with cancer. Cancer treatment usually involves a combination of chemotherapy, radiation, or surgery. When there is a delay in treatment, cancer will grow. Depending on how long cancer grows and where it is located in the body, untreated cancer can spread throughout the body via blood vessels, the lymphatic system, or even the nervous system.
The passage of time alone is not evidence cancer has spread throughout the body or reduced the life expectancy of the patient. Fortunately, in some patients, the prognosis is barely affected by a delay in diagnosis of many months. On the other hand, delays in treatment of a year or more can mean the difference between early-stage cancer confined to the location where the cancer started and late-stage cancer that has spread to other parts of the body. Delays in diagnosis can also mean the difference between a good chance the patient will live for five years or more after their cancer is diagnosed and a less than 50% chance of living for even five years.
Failure To Diagnose Is Not Always Considered Malpractice
Sometimes, people believe if cancer was present months or years before the diagnosis, a doctor must be to blame for the delay. This is a natural and common reaction for somebody whose world is turned upside down by a new diagnosis of cancer. In Pennsylvania courts, attorneys representing doctors and hospitals remind the jury not to make their decision based on hindsight. Rather, jurors are to consider only whether the healthcare providers made the right decisions and provided appropriate care based on the information they had at the time in question. It would be improper for a delayed cancer diagnosis lawyer to argue that simply because the cancer was detectable at an earlier time, the Pittsburgh doctor or hospital made a mistake and is accountable for not making an earlier diagnosis.
However, it is essential to recognize the serious impact of a failure to diagnose cancer in a timely manner. Cancer, if not detected and treated early, can progress to more advanced stages where treatment options become less effective and more invasive, significantly reducing a patient’s chances for recovery. The process of differential diagnosis, where a doctor lists potential illnesses based on a patient’s symptoms, is critical. A lapse in this process—such as not considering cancer as a possible diagnosis or failing to perform necessary diagnostic tests like biopsies or mammograms—can delay treatment commencement. Such delays can be particularly detrimental as cancers that are treatable in early stages may become incurable.
Moreover, while financial considerations may lead some practitioners to skip certain expensive tests, the cost of these tests pales in comparison to the human cost of a life potentially lost or drastically altered due to a late diagnosis. Therefore, while legal defenses rightly argue that decisions should be evaluated based on the knowledge at the time, the medical community must strive to uphold high standards of care, including thoroughness in testing and diagnosis, to prevent such devastating outcomes.
Pain & Suffering
As in most medical malpractice cases, a victim of delayed diagnosis or misdiagnosis of cancer can be compensated for pain and suffering based on the physical pain and emotional anguish they suffer as a result of the actions or inactions of their doctor or medical care provider.
If the patient has died, in addition to medical malpractice claims, you may also have wrongful death and survival action claims.
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