Breast Cancer

The misdiagnosis of breast cancer is a frequent root of medical malpractice cases, and is one of the most astonishing examples of what can happen when a disease goes undetected by a health care professional.

Since there has been major progress in terms of public education about the value of early detection by patients through self-examination, the fact that many health care professionals are negligent in making a timely diagnosis — resulting in the cancer progressing without proper treatment — makes breast cancer malpractice issues even more devastating.

Beast cancer in a medical malpractice case often centers on a health care professional ignoring the warning signs and not ordering the proper testing to detect the disease in the early stages. Often times, a woman may find a lump upon self-examination only to be told by her physician that it is nothing to worry about, and doesn’t warrant further testing. Not heeding a patient’s complaints, failing to identify an obvious lump during an exam, failing to order a mammogram, not performing a biopsy and misreading and/or not following up with the patient are all examples of errors on behalf of health care professionals that can often indicate that medical malpractice has occurred. Unfortunately, in an aggressive disease such as breast cancer, a delay in providing a timely and accurate diagnosis can lead to needless suffering, the loss of a breast and, often, death that may have been prevented with earlier detection and proper medical care.