Patients trust healthcare professionals to detect serious illnesses like cancer, relying on their expertise to recognize symptoms and provide timely care. Unfortunately, some medical providers may overlook critical signs and fail to diagnose cancer resulting in further harm to the patient.
Missed diagnosis
When a healthcare provider fails to recognize that a patient has cancer when they present symptoms or attribute those signs to a less serious condition, it can lead to a delay in treatment and potentially worsen the patient’s prognosis.
Delayed diagnosis
In case of delayed diagnosis, a medical practitioner may eventually diagnose cancer, but there is a significant and unjustifiable delay from the time of the first presentation of symptoms or from when the cancer could have reasonably been detected. Similar to a missed diagnosis, this can also result in harm to the patient due to delayed treatment.
Incorrect diagnosis
In some cases, a doctor or healthcare provider may incorrectly diagnose a patient with the wrong type of cancer or with another condition. As a result, the patient may undergo unnecessary or incorrect treatment, leaving the actual cancer untreated.
Pursuing a medical malpractice case
Note that not all failures to diagnose are due to medical negligence. Cancer can be particularly challenging to diagnose because its symptoms often resemble those of less serious conditions and early-stage cancers may not always present clear symptoms.
Additionally, medical professionals use their best judgment based on the symptoms presented and the results of tests, which are not always conclusive. However, when these professionals do not follow the medical standards of care, resulting in a form of failure to diagnose cancer, it may be a form of malpractice.
If you believe you are a victim of medical malpractice, it is highly advisable to consult with a legal professional who specializes in medical malpractice to understand your situation, rights and remedies.