The earlier cancer is diagnosed, the more promising the outlook for the patient. 

When your doctor or other healthcare provider fails in his or her duty to you as a patient—delaying the diagnosis of cancer—it can have disastrous results.

If you or a loved one was the victim of a delayed cancer diagnosis, you deserve competent legal representation. Our firm is skilled in medical malpractice claims, and we are ready to hear your story. If we determine that your delayed cancer diagnosis was, in fact, medical malpractice, we will do all that we can to see that you and your family are fairly compensated.

You Cannot Get Treatment if You Do Not Know

Cancer is one of the most health issues people suffer from—with around half of all men and a third of all women developing cancer. The sooner you start treatment, the more effective treatment tends to be. But you cannot start treatment if you do not know you have cancer.

A delayed cancer diagnosis is intensely frustrating for victims and their families because it costs them valuable time and often increases the odds of a negative outcome. 

Factors Leading to a Delayed Cancer Diagnosis

There are a number of ways that a delayed cancer diagnosis can result from malpractice. These include:

  • Reading x-rays incorrectly
  • Ordering the wrong tests
  • Reading test results incorrectly
  • Failing to perform a test
  • Not referring a patient to a specialist
  • Not recognizing a tumor
  • Issues with diagnostic tools
  • Lab results switched between patients
  • Losing lab results
  • Not performing a procedure correctly
  • Ignoring patient requests to test for cancer

There are testing methods for many of the most common cancers, tests that can usually diagnose cancer reliably. But as a patient, you can only benefit from such tests if your medical care provider performs his or her duties correctly. Each of the factors listed above may be considered negligence on the part of the healthcare provider, which would mean that it may be possible to pursue a medical malpractice lawsuit. 

What to Do if You or a Loved One Has Been Affected by a Delayed Cancer Diagnosis

Discovering your cancer diagnosis was delayed can come as a shock. After you have some time to process what you have just learned, you may be wondering exactly what you should do next.

  1. Continue to seek medical care. Sometimes finding out that your medical care provider failed to diagnose your cancer earlier can lead to intense feelings of anger and frustration—which is normal. As upsetting as the news can be, though, it is important to keep getting the medical care you need moving forward. Whether you change doctors or continue seeing the same doctor, continue to care for yourself to the best of your ability.
  2. Contact a medical malpractice attorney in your area. It can be difficult to determine if you have a medical malpractice case on your own. A lawyer will be able to investigate your situation and identify signs of malpractice and can tell you if the situation warrants a lawsuit. Our firm pursues medical malpractice cases throughout Connecticut. Contact us to take advantage of our experience and resources in pursuing your case.
  3. Determine if negligence occurred. Medical malpractice cases can be challenging because of the nature of medical care. Medical malpractice requires a failure to meet the “standard of care”, which is a term that refers to the standards each medical professional is expected to meet when performing his or her duties. Your attorney will need to prove that the medical care provider did not meet the standard of care to win your case.

Benefits of Hiring a Medical Malpractice Attorney

The time following a cancer diagnosis is always trying for individuals and their loved ones. Hiring a skilled medical malpractice attorney can offer a number of benefits when you find yourself in such a situation. These include:

  • Determining if you have a case – The fastest way to verify if you should pursue legal action is to tell your story to a medical malpractice attorney. Because the attorney had been involved in numerous medical malpractice situations, they can give you clear insight.
  • Freeing yourself to focus on recovery – Managing all the details of a lawsuit is the last thing you need to be doing when you are going through cancer treatment. Your attorney will do the heavy lifting, looking out for your interests and ensuring that everything is done correctly.
  • No cost unless you win – If we take your case, we only require payment if we win. That means you can get skilled representation without having to worry about the expense. And if we do win, we only take a reasonable percentage as payment.