All medical professionals know the benefits of catching cancer early. Cancer is more destructive as it grows and spreads, but treating it early often eradicates it and leaves a patient cancer-free. Unfortunately, cancer is sometimes misdiagnosed as a less dangerous condition like a tumor being mistaken as benign when it is malignant.
Physicians are highly trained and expected to provide a certain level of care that appropriately identifies and treats the root causes of conditions. Failing to do so is considered negligence. If you are undergoing more aggressive treatment because your doctor overlooked cancer, a Rockville cancer misdiagnosis lawyer is ready to help you hold them accountable for medical malpractice.
Examples of Cancer Misdiagnoses
A cancer misdiagnosis is generally attributed to a patient’s treating physician, but clinicians and nurses can also make mistakes that contribute to a misdiagnosis and a worsening of the cancer. Some common mistakes include:
- Failing to order appropriate lab tests
- Failing to read radiology or other test results correctly
- Processing blood and tissue samples in a way that degrades them making them unusable
- Concluding that cancer symptoms are not cancer but a less aggressive and milder condition
- Delaying chemotherapy and radiation for an aggressive form of cancer that goes undiagnosed
To be able to file a medical malpractice lawsuit, the plaintiff must find an expert witness who believes the patient’s experience constitutes misdiagnosis, which allowed the cancer to spread, worsen, or turn deadly. Seasoned legal professionals understand how the expert witness requirement works and how the entire process needs to be handled. Experienced lawyers build strong cases to compensate patients injured by a cancer misdiagnosis in Rockville.
The Maryland Certificate of Merit
Under Maryland Code Annotated § 3-2A-04 (b)(4), the plaintiff’s attorney must file a statement by a qualified medical doctor naming the doctor who allegedly committed malpractice and supporting the claim. The witness must attest to the treating physician’s negligence because the physician’s care did not meet the acceptable standard and was the reason the patient was harmed.
Are Cancer Misdiagnoses Common?
The American Cancer Society has reported that approximately 10 percent of first-time cancer patients are misdiagnosed. About 40,000 women, and sometimes men, die each year from misdiagnosed breast cancer. About 25 percent of those misdiagnosed with any type of cancer will see their conditions worsen or become terminal.
Anyone who experiences this unnecessary harm due to a medical professional’s negligence should discuss their case with a Rockville cancer misdiagnosis attorney.
A Rockville Cancer Misdiagnosis Attorney Will Fight for You
Battling cancer is an expensive, time-consuming ordeal that requires myriad tests, sometimes painful treatments, and the expertise of competent medical professionals to defeat it. While you conduct the physical fight, we can conduct the legal one, getting you compensated if your doctor did not catch and act against cancer as quickly as they should have.
If you were told your cancer was nothing after explaining your symptoms and enduring a multitude of tests, call us. You may be entitled to compensation for your economic losses and physical suffering as your condition worsened because it was not caught early. A Rockville cancer misdiagnosis lawyer at Price Benowitz can fight for the justice you deserve. Call today for a free consultation.
