With many illnesses and diseases, prompt diagnosis and treatment is critical. This is especially true when a patient is facing cancer, where early diagnosis and aggressive treatment can sometimes literally mean the difference between life and death. In cases where a doctor fails to diagnose a patient as having cancer, precious time is wasted that may ultimately lead to a patient suffering harm, injury and even death.
Many women in Illinois regularly undergo yearly mammograms. These diagnostic tests can be useful in helping doctors identify abnormalities within a woman’s breast tissues. Doctors must closely review a woman’s mammogram results to identify possible changes in tissues or areas of abnormal growth.
Five doctors were recently named as defendants in a medical malpractice lawsuit filed by a woman and her husband. At the center of the lawsuit, are claims that the doctors were negligent in failing to detect a mass that was growing in the woman’s breast tissue. Additionally, the defendants are blamed for failing to perform a biopsy in a timely manner.
As a result of the defendants’ alleged negligent actions, the woman’s cancer went undiagnosed and treated for an extended period of time. Today, she is undergoing aggressive medical treatments to battle breast cancer. Both the woman and her husband are named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit and are suing to recover damages related to disability, disfigurement, mental pain and anguish and medical costs associated with the aggressive cancer treatments.
Illinois residents who have been adversely impacted by a delay in diagnosis or misdiagnosis may choose to discuss their case with an attorney. In cases where a doctor is deemed at fault for failing to diagnose that an individual has cancer in a timely manner, compensation may be awarded related to medical costs, lost wages and physical injuries.
Source: The Madison-St. Clair Record, “Woman sues doctors claiming they failed to timely diagnose breast cancer,” Kelly Holleran, Dec. 30, 2013