Men tend to possess a lack of awareness of prostate cancer, their own chances for the cancer, and the ways in which they can figure out whether they have prostate cancer. A large number of male patients are not aware of what it means to screen for prostate cancer or that screening needs to be done in advance of when they begin to show symptoms. However, far too often, physicians detect the cancer only after it is past the early stages due to deficient of screening.
There are several different situations that can result in a delayed diagnosis. A common type of medical error that is at the root of these cases happens when the male patient's primary care physician (1) screens the individual for prostate cancer by tracking the level of PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) in his system, (2) records abnormally high levels of PSA and but (3) neither tells him of abnormal results (and what they suggest) nor orders diagnostic tests, for example a biopsy, to eliminate prostate cancer. Consider the following claim, for example:
A doctor, an internist, found out that his male patient had a PSA of 8. (a level above a 4.0 is generally considered high). The doctor did not inform the patient. The physician did not refer the patient to a urologist. The physician did not order a biopsy. Two years later the doctor repeated the PSA test. This time the test level had gone up to 13.6. Again, the physician said nothing to the patient. Again, the physician did not refer the patient to a urologist. And again, the physician did not order a biopsy. Two years later the doctor repeated the test. It was not until three years after first knowing about the patient's raised PSA level that the doctor at last told him that he most likely had cancer. By the time he was diagnosed he had metastatic prostate cancer and surgery was not one of the treatment options. Treating doctors instead recommended radiation therapy and hormone therapy. Neither of these would eliminate the cancer but they might impede the cancer's progress and further spread. The law firm that handled this matter reported that they took the claim to mediation where they achieved a settlement of $600,000.
If they do nothing after the screening tests results come back positive and the patient subsequently learns that he had prostate cancer and that the lapse of time resulted in it growing beyond the prostate thus limiting treatment options and decreasing his chances of surviving the cancer, the man may have a claim for malpractice against the doctor.
As the claim illustrates a physician who commits this sort of mistake might be liable for medical malpractice.
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