Cancer Misdiagnosis

Cancer misdiagnosis can be fatal; surviving cancer starts by catching it early. Cancer misdiagnosis can happen for a number of reasons, and it happens often. More than 12 percent of cancers are initially misdiagnosed. What is equally scary is how long it takes to fix the misdiagnosis, and then begin treating the cancer. Many lives are lost during that initial misdiagnosis.

Cancer is misdiagnosed for many reasons, including:

insensitive results
poor sampling techniques
reader error
diagnosing the tumor as benign
mistaking a tumor for an infection
failure to order X-rays
failure to conduct accurate testing
failure to refer patient to a specialist
failure to begin necessary treatment

You can help protect yourself from misdiagnosis by being very clear about your symptoms. Also, make sure to ask questions, seek second and even third opinions, and trust your instincts. You know your body better than anyone else. In fact, in a recent case, one man saw 19 doctors before one finally diagnosed him with cancer. The other doctors told him he had a throat infection and gave him antibiotics. If the first doctors could have diagnosed him correctly, his chances for survival would be much better. He eventually had to undergo surgery to remove his tongue and voice box. In a similar case, it took 40 doctors to diagnose a woman’s brain cancer. Many told her she was suffering from a psychological problem. Eventually, an ear, nose, eye and throat specialist gave her an MRI and discovered a brain tumor. In other cases, brain tumors were misdiagnosed as excessive earwax or sinus infections.

In the U.S., medical errors cause 100,000 preventable deaths and more than 1 million preventable injuries each year. Early detection makes most cancers completely curable, such as breast cancer. When detected early and confined to the breast, patients are expected to make a 100 percent recovery. Colorectal cancer is also 100 percent treatable when pre-cancerous polyps are discovered and removed early on. Other cancers that can be treated successfully if they are detected early include lung, breast, prostate, colon, ovarian, cervical, testicular and kidney cancers. If you are a victim of cancer misdiagnosis, contact a medical malpractice attorney to help recover the medical expenses and to seek damages for pain and suffering.

Home Accidents Commercial Accidents FDA Hazardous Exposure Intentional Injuries Medical Malpractice Negligence Owner Liability Police Related Injuries Product Liability Public Accidents Recreational Vehicle Accidents Vehicle/Traffic Accidents Work Accidents and Injuries Medical Malpractice Birthing/Delivery Malpractice Cancer Malpractice Dental Malpractice Elder Neglect Failure to Provide Appropriate Treatment Harmful Medical Procedures Hospital Malpractice Medical Malpractice Attorney Medical Recall Misread X-rays/Mammograms Pediatric Malpractice Plastic Surgery Malpractice Prescription Errors Surgical Malpractice Treatment Delays Cancer Malpractice Breast Cancer Malpractice Cancer Misdiagnosis Radiation Malpractice Cancer Misdiagnosis		Accidents Work Accidents and Injuries Vehicle/Traffic Accidents Owner Liability Negligence Product Liability Police Related Injuries Hazardous Exposure Medical Malpractice Commercial Accidents Public Accidents Intentional Injuries Recreational Vehicle Accidents FDA View All (13) Minimize Injuries Body and Limb Injury Head and Face Injuries Brain Injury Back Injury Burn Injury Heart and Lung Injury Injuries from Animals Children's Injuries Birth Injury Emotional Injuries Sexually Transmitted Diseases View All (11) Minimize Drug Injuries RotaShield Mirapex Protonix Mellaril Menactra Meningitis Vaccine Abilify Accolate Actonel Actos Accutane Depakote ACE Inhibitors Adderall Advair Advil Aldara Daypro Ambien Amiodarone Aptivus Aranesp Arava Darvon Aredia Aricept Avandia Avonex Darvocet Baycol Betaseron Bextra Bismacine Bitter Orange Campath Cardizem Celebrex Celexa Cipro Cleocin Clinipad Products Clozaril Complete Moisture Plus Concerta Cordarone Coreg Crestor Cylert Cymbalta Cytotec DES Dexedrine Dexatrim Dilantin Diltiazem Ditropan Dostinex Doxycycline Duract Duragesic Patch Effexor Elidel Enbrel Ephedra Epogen Estratest Evista Fen Phen Fleet Enema Fluoroquinolones Foradil Fosamax Gadolinium Geodon Gleevec Heparin Herceptin Hismanal Humira Interceed Intergel Ketek Lamictal Lamisil Larium Levaquin Levitra Levodopa Lexapro Lotronex Lunesta Luvox Lymerix Lyrica Macugen Meridia Metabolife Metadate Methazolamide Methylin Mifeprex Mobic Motrin Natrecor Neurontin NeutroSpec Nevirapine Nexium Norplant Novantrone NovoSeven Ortho Evra Patch Ortho Prefest OxyContin Pacerone Palladone Parlodel Paxil Permax Plavix Posicor PPA Premarin Premphase Prempro Prevacid Prilosec Procrit Propulsid Proton Pump Inhibitors Protopic Serentil Sinemet Prozac Raptiva Raxar Redux Reglan Relafen Relenza Remeron Remicade Reminyl ReNu Contact Solution ReNu MultiPlus Solution ReNu with MoistureLoc Requip Rezulin Risperdal Ritalin RotaTeq Seldane Serevent Seroquel Serzone Silicone Soriatane Sporanox Stadol Strattera Symbyax Tamiflu Tamoxifen Tasmar Tequin Terbutaline Thalidomide Thimerosal Third Generation DES Tiazac Trasylol Trileptal Tysabri Viagra Videx Vincristine Vioxx Wellbutrin Xenadrine Xigris Xolair Zelnorm Zerit Zevalin Zicam Zithromax Zoloft Zometa Zyban Zyprexa Botox View All (191) Minimize
Cancer Misdiagnosis Cancer misdiagnosis can be fatal; surviving cancer starts by catching it early. Cancer misdiagnosis can happen for a number of reasons, and it happens often. More than 12 percent of cancers are initially misdiagnosed. What is equally scary is how long it takes to fix the misdiagnosis, and then begin treating the cancer. Many lives are lost during that initial misdiagnosis. Cancer is misdiagnosed for many reasons, including: insensitive results poor sampling techniques reader error diagnosing the tumor as benign mistaking a tumor for an infection failure to order X-rays failure to conduct accurate testing failure to refer patient to a specialist failure to begin necessary treatment You can help protect yourself from misdiagnosis by being very clear about your symptoms. Also, make sure to ask questions, seek second and even third opinions, and trust your instincts. You know your body better than anyone else. In fact, in a recent case, one man saw 19 doctors before one finally diagnosed him with cancer. The other doctors told him he had a throat infection and gave him antibiotics. If the first doctors could have diagnosed him correctly, his chances for survival would be much better. He eventually had to undergo surgery to remove his tongue and voice box. In a similar case, it took 40 doctors to diagnose a woman’s brain cancer. Many told her she was suffering from a psychological problem. Eventually, an ear, nose, eye and throat specialist gave her an MRI and discovered a brain tumor. In other cases, brain tumors were misdiagnosed as excessive earwax or sinus infections. In the U.S., medical errors cause 100,000 preventable deaths and more than 1 million preventable injuries each year. Early detection makes most cancers completely curable, such as breast cancer. When detected early and confined to the breast, patients are expected to make a 100 percent recovery. Colorectal cancer is also 100 percent treatable when pre-cancerous polyps are discovered and removed early on. Other cancers that can be treated successfully if they are detected early include lung, breast, prostate, colon, ovarian, cervical, testicular and kidney cancers. If you are a victim of cancer misdiagnosis, contact a medical malpractice attorney to help recover the medical expenses and to seek damages for pain and suffering.