Being told one has colon cancer tends to raise dread in most of people. It can thus feel very reassuring to have your doctor tell you that you merely have hemorrhoids. That there is no need to be anxious about the blood in your stool. However this reassurance ought to only come after the physician has eliminated the possibility of colon cancer (and other possibly serious gastrointestinal issues). Otherwise, you might not learn that you have colon cancer until it is too late. Should a doctor decide without testing considers that complaints of blood in the stool or rectal bleeding by a patient are from hemorrhoids and it later is discovered that the patient had colon cancer all along, that physician may have committed medical malpractice and the patient might be able to pursue a lawsuit against that doctor.
It is projected that there are over 10 million people with hemorrhoids. An additional million new cases of hemorrhoids will likely occur this year as opposed to a little more than the 100 thousand new instances of colon cancer that will be identified this year. In addition, not all colon cancers bleed. When they do, the bleeding could be non-consistent. Also subject to the location of the cancer in the colon, the blood may not actually be apparent in the stool. Perhaps it is simply due to the difference in the volume of cases being diagnosed that some doctors just consider that the presence of blood in the stool or rectal bleeding is because of hemorrhoids. This is playing the odds. A physician who reaches this conclusion will be correct over ninety percent of the time. It sounds realistic, doesn't it? The problem, however, is that if the doctor is incorrect in this diagnosis, the patient might not discover he or she has colon cancer until it has progressed to a late stage, maybe even to where it is no longer treatable.
In the event colon cancer is detected before it metastasizes outside the colon, the individual's chances of surviving the cancer are over 80%. The 5 year survival rate is a statistical gauge of the percentage of people who are still alive a minimum of 5 years subsequent to diagnosis. Treatment protocols for early stage colon cancer frequently requires only surgery to take out the cancerous growth and adjacent areas of the colon. Subject to factors including the stage of the cancer and the individual's medical history , how old the person is, and the patient's physical condition, chemotherapy may or may not be necessary.
For this reason doctors frequently recommend that a colonoscopy should be done immediately if a patient has blood in the stool or rectal bleeding. A colonoscopy is a procedure that uses a flexible tube with a camera on the end is used to visualize the interior of the colon. In the event that something is discovered during the procedure, it might be possible to remove it then and there if it is not very large. In any case, it will be biopsied to check for cancer. Providing no cancer is discovered during the colonoscopy may colon cancer be eliminated as a source of the blood.
However, should the cancer not be discovered until it has spread outside of the colon into the lymph nodes, the person's five year survival rate will normally be around 53%. In addition to surgery to remove the tumor and adjacent portions of the colon treatment for this stage of colon cancer calls for chemotherapy in an attempt to get rid of any cancer that might remain in the body. If the cancer spreads to other organs for example the liver, lungs, or brain, the individual's five year survival rate is reduced to close to 8%. Now treatment may entail surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and other medications. Treatment may or may not still be effective when the cancer is this advanced. If treatment ceases to be helpful, colon cancer is fatal. This year, roughly forty eight thousand men and women will die in the U.S. from advanced colon cancer.
By telling the patient that blood in the stool or rectal bleeding as resulting from hemorrhoids without doing the right tests to rule out colon cancer, a doctor puts the patient at risk of not learning that the patient colon cancer until it reaches an advanced, possibly untreatable, stage. This might constitute a departure from the accepted standard of medical care and may bring about a malpractice lawsuit.
If you or a family member were told by a physician that blood in the stool or rectal bleeding were due to only hemorrhoids, and have since been diagnosed with advanced colon cancer, you should speak to a lawyer immediately. This article is for basic educational usage only and does not constitute legal (or medical) advice. If you have any medical issues you should consult with a doctor. You should not act, or refrain from acting, based upon any information in this article but should instead seek professional legal counsel. A competent lawyer who is experienced in medical malpractice may be able to help you determine if you have a claim for a delay in the diagnosis of the colon cancer. Immediately contact a lawyer are there is a time limit in cases such as these.
Author Resource:-
Joseph Hernandez is an Attorney focused on complex injury cases, including Medical Malpractice cases. You can learn more about cases involving advanced colon cancer and how a cancer lawyer may be able to help you visit the website.
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