Even in the best of circumstances, fighting cancer is a harrowing thing. Thus, the last thing cancer victims need is for their challenge to be made even more difficult by negligence by doctors. One type of doctor error that can be very impactful on cancer victims is a diagnosis error. One important thing for individuals here in Illinois to remember is that cancer sufferers who have experienced harm due to having been exposed to such a medical mistake may be able to pursue legal action against the medical professionals responsible for the error.
Recently, in another state (Louisiana), a lawsuit has been brought against a doctor in relation to an alleged cancer misdiagnosis.
The man bringing the lawsuit says that, when the doctor conducted an examination of him in October 2010, an enlarged lymph node was discovered in his neck. The man alleges that the doctor then acted negligently and misdiagnosed him with an infection when he actually had neck cancer. According to the man, over a year went by before the cancer was finally detected. The cancer was discovered when some tissue was surgically removed from the man’s neck.
The man claims that the diagnosis delay caused him to need more extreme treatment for his cancer than may have otherwise been the case. According to the man, this has hurt him in many ways, including causing him to suffer: physical pain, scarring, disability, disfigurement, mental anguish and economic loss. These allegations underscore how truly vast the list of harms that diagnosis errors can cause cancer victims is.
Source: The Louisiana Record, “Doctor sued for allegedly missing cancer diagnosis,” Kyle Barnett, Feb. 17, 2014