Individuals with a family history of colon cancer and people who have symptoms are at higher risk of being diagnosed with colon cancer. When someone both has a family history and also has complaints of symptoms such as rectal bleeding, doctors generally agree that a colonoscopy is necessary in order to determine whether the person has colon cancer or rule it out.
But in order to be reliable a colonoscopy must be complete. It must cover the entire length of the colon. When obstructions or poor preparation yield incomplete visualization of areas of the colon the colonoscopy must be repeated or an alternative, such as a virtual colonoscopy, must be considered. A failure to do so could lead to a missed tumor which can grow and progress to an advanced stage before it is detected.
This is what happened in one reported case involving a fifty-four year old female who passed away from advanced colon cancer. Consider her medical history. She had a family history of colon cancer. She had 3 colonoscopies over 6 years. During that period, she reported that she experienced rectal bleeding and abdominal pain many times. At least once her blood work also showed that she was anemic. All three are potential symptoms of colon cancer.
The notes from two of the colonoscopies showed that there was incomplete visualization of the ascending colon and cecum as the scope could not be passed beyond the transverse colon. Nonetheless, the doctor who performed the 3 colonoscopies and followed her during this time kept telling her that her symptoms were due to hemorrhoids.
The woman was finally diagnosed with colon cancer when her tumor was discovered as she was undergoing exploratory surgery in order to determine the cause of her symptoms. A large portion of her intestines were removed due to the cancer. She was further treated with chemotherapy. She eventually died from the cancer. As a result of the doctor's failure to follow up on her symptoms in light of two incomplete colonoscopies the woman's surviving family filed a lawsuit. The law firm that represented the family in this matter was able to report that they recovered $875,000 on behalf of the family.
Doctors use diagnostic tests in order to find or rule out certain diseases. For example, the colonoscopy is used to find or rule out colon cancer. But the result of the test is only as good as the accuracy with which the test was performed. A colonoscopy uses a scope to visualize the inside of the colon in order to determine whether there are any polyps or tumors in the colon.
If the entire colon is not visualized, as in the case above, a doctor cannot rely on it to rule out cancer. That makes about as much sense as only listening to one of your lungs, examining only one of your eyes, or ordering only part of a complete blood count. When the patient does have cancer this could lead to a delay in diagnosis that allows the cancer time to grow and advance to an uncurable stage due to the delay in diagnosis. Under such circumstances the doctor who relied on such a partial result may be liable under a medical malpractice or even wrongful death claim.
Author Resource:-
Joseph Hernandez is an Attorney accepting medical malpractice cases and wrongful death cases. You can learn more about cases involving advanced colon cancer and how a cancer lawyer can assist you by visiting his website.
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