A cancer misdiagnosis can rob a person and his or her family of invaluable years of life and quality of life. Doctors do make mistakes. A study published in the journal "Cancer" found that about 12 percent of cancer patients are initially misdiagnosed. Another study in 2008 reported that about 15 percent of people who have lung cancer are misdiagnosed.
In the 2005 study, Dr. Stephen Raab of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine said "the major consequence is not that patients unnecessarily have organs removed or have a false diagnosis of cancer, but rather that they have cancer and it is not diagnosed." The study went on to conclude that the largest variable in a diagnosis is the person evaluating test results or lab sample.
In 2009, researchers at the University of California in a study of nearly 2,000 women found that "four in 10 women with ovarian cancer have symptoms that they tell their doctors about at least four months — and as long as one year — before they are diagnosed."
Early diagnosis of cancer is key to successful treatment and returning to a high quality of life.
There have been other cases where test results have been misread, leading to a positive diagnosis. Those false positives lead to a different kind of emotional distress and sometimes results in unnecessary treatment or procedures.
While any type of cancer can be misdiagnosed, medical mistakes are most common for:
- Breast cancer
- Prostate cancer
- Kidney cancer
- Brain cancer
- Lung cancer
- Leukemia
A number of possible reasons exist for misdiagnosing cancer, including:
- Failure to order or follow up on tests, including a biopsy;
- Mistakenly diagnosing a tumor as benign;
- Mistakenly diagnosing a tumor as a cyst or an infection;
- Ignoring common symptoms of cancer, such as fatigue;
- Failure to identify lumps;
- Failure to follow-up with a patient; and
- Misinterpretation of test results.
Contact Our Cancer Misdiagnosis Lawyers Today
When a cancer misdiagnosis occurs because of medical negligence or an error by someone in the health care system, the patient may have a legal case.
For a free evaluation of your case, contact the medical malpractice lawyers at Michigan Injury Lawyers at (888) 454-0801 or use our online contact form. If there is no recovery in your case, there is no fee for our services.