Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Misdiagnosing Breast Cancer As Fibroid Changes May Constitute Medical Malpractice - Overview

By Darren Kenzo Ang


Cancer can be a word that strikes fear in many people. It's no surprise that a woman can uncover it quite reassuring when she hears her physician tell her that she just has fibrocystic breast modifications and that there is certainly no will need to be concerned concerning the lump in her breast. But this reassurance really should only come immediately after the physician has ordered suitable diagnostic tests to rule out the possibility of breast cancer. Otherwise, the patient might not discover she has breast cancer until it can be too late. If a physician concludes that a lump in a female patient's breast is just a fibrocystic breast alterations and it later turns out to be breast cancer, the patient may well have a legal claim for medical malpractice against that physician.

Maybe some 80 percent of breast related problems usually are not the result of breast cancer. Further, the majority of new breast cancer instances happen in females more than 50 years of age. It can be therefore not surprising that some doctors will diagnose an abnormal obtaining from a clinical breast examination, in particular having a younger patient, as as a result of fibrocystic breast modifications and not because of breast cancer. The statistics are in favor of such a diagnosis.

Regrettably, this really is not the finish of the story. If cancer of the breast is detected even though in its much less advanced stages (stage 0, stage I or stage II), the 5-year survival rate is normally more than 80 percent. The 5-year survival rate is actually a statistical measure utilized by cancer specialists to identify the percentage of patients who survive the illness for at the very least 5 years immediately after diagnosis. Therefore, a 5-year survival rate above 80 percent indicates that, statistically, a lot more than 80 out of just about every 100 patients diagnosed using a much less advanced stage will, with proper therapy, survive the illness for at the least five years right after diagnosis.

If the breast cancer just isn't detected until it has reached stage III (usually entails bigger tumors inside the breast or perhaps a higher spread of the cancer to lymph nodes), the 5-year survival rate drops to roughly 54%. For stage IV (normally entails a tumor which is bigger that five cm or the spread of the cancer to distant organs), the 5-year survival rate is roughly 20%.

Roughly 12 percent of ladies will expertise breast cancer in their life time. This year alone, roughly 185,000 females will likely be diagnosed with breast cancer. Tragically, a lot more than 49,000 females will die consequently of breast cancer. How numerous of these females would survive their cancer if their doctors had investigated complaints of a lump inside the breast or an abnormal obtaining on a clinical breast exam and had discovered the breast cancer earlier, just before it spread or metastasized?

A clinical breast examination merely can't accurately differentiate in between a fibrocystic breast adjustments along with a cancerous growth. This really is why a physician need to commonly advise that diagnostic testing be instantly performed ordered if a lump is detected within the breast of a female patient. Examples of diagnostic tests can incorporate an imaging study including a mammogram or an ultrasound, or perhaps a sampling, for instance by biopsy or aspiration. Each and every has the possible for a false negative and it may well be essential to carry out far more than 1 test ahead of cancer of the breast may be ruled out.

When a physician diagnoses a lump inside the breast of a female patient as absolutely nothing a lot more than a fibrocystic alter based only on a clinical breast examination, that physician puts the patient at risk of not realizing she has cancer until it progresses to an advanced, possibly untreatable, stage. The failure to conduct suitable diagnostic testing, which includes an imaging study including a mammogram or ultrasound, or perhaps a sampling, including a biopsy or aspiration, might constitute a departure from the accepted regular of medical care and could lead to a medical malpractice claim.

Get in touch with a Lawyer These days

Should you or perhaps a household member had been assured by a physician that a lump within the breast was merely as a result of fibrocystic breast adjustments which later turned out to be breast cancer that was not diagnosed until it was advanced due to a delay brought on by the doctor's misdiagnosis, you must get in touch with a lawyer quickly.

This write-up is for informational purposes only and just isn't intended to be legal (or medical) suggestions. You must not act, or refrain from acting, based upon any details at this net web page with out looking for skilled legal counsel. A competent lawyer who's skilled in medical malpractice can enable you to decide for those who have a claim for the delay within the diagnosis of the breast cancer. Don't wait to get in touch with a lawyer are there's a time limit in circumstances like these.




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