This year an estimated 14% of the 193,000 men who learn they have prostate cancer will already have advanced prostate cancer when they are first told. With routine testing before the onset of symptoms, including digital examinations and PSA blood tests, a number of these individuals might have been diagnosed before the cancer progressed to an advanced stage. A lapse of time until the cancer is advanced does not merely constrain the man's treatment options but also significantly reduces his odds of surviving the cancer. Consider the following reported case to illustrate.
While doing a physical examination on a 56 year old male patient, a physician noted a small nodule on the left side of the prostate. The physician ordered a PSA test the results of which showed the level to be 3.1 - or within normal range. The doctor did nothing else at the time. Just about three years went by before the physician once more did a physical examination and records that there were no abnormalities felt on the prostate. This time, the doctor does not order the test. The patient saw by a second physician something like six weeks later for an insurance mandated medical examination. This doctor ordered the test which registered at 5.3. This is considered high. The individual then consulted with his regular physician's office and was told to come back for them to do their own test. This test returned a 3.5 - in normal range. The doctor assured the patient there was no need for concern or for additional follow up.
Once more, almost 3 years passed before the doctor next screened the patient. The doctor again documents the nodule. The doctor then ordered a PSA test that came back at 4.7 - high. The doctor does not tell the individual and does nothing further regarding these two abnormal test results. Nearly two years after the physical examination reveals that the prostate not only had a nodule, but was firm on the side of the nodule and was enlarged. The test now shows the level at 14.1. On this occasion, the doctor at last refers the patient to a Urologist who finds that the patient has stage 4 prostate cancer that had reached the bones around pubic area and the top section of his right leg.
A malpractice claim followed in the process of which the doctor verified that the presence of the nodule indicated an "abnormal" result. The law firm that helped the man and his wife reported that the lawsuit settled for a total sum of $850,000. This sum included two hundred fifty thousand dollars for non-economic damages and two hundred fifty thousand dollars for the wife's future wrongful death claim. This is the top amount that can be recovered for those claims under the laws of the state in which the case arose.
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