Valenzuela Law Firm, PA | Trial Attorney
Attorney Henry E. Valenzuela

Cancer diagnosis issues: Know when you can file a claim

On Behalf of | Nov 15, 2019 | Uncategorized

One of the reasons that so many cancers go without a diagnosis is that cancer can mimic several other diseases and illnesses. Sometimes, a doctor doesn’t consider cancer as a cause due to a patient’s age or a lack of risk factors.

A misdiagnosis may be devatating to you, and it’s important that you know how to handle it. Here’s more on this important topic.

If you’re misdiagnosed, the first step is to begin appropriate treatment or to stop inappropriate treatment

If you’ve been misdiagnosed with cancer and do not have it, you may have suffered from going through chemotherapy or other treatments. It’s important to stop them right away, since these treatments can be damaging to your body, especially when they are not necessary.

If you were not diagnosed with cancer and did have it, then it’s important to start the process of treatment if it’s still possible.

Next, talk to your medical provider about why the diagnosis was missed. If a test did not come back positive but everything was done right, this may simply be a case of testing too soon for a test to recognize your condition. However, if there were mistakes made that resulted in your misdiagnosis, then that’s a bigger issue. Find out what happened, and if no one wants to talk about it, you may want to get a second opinion about what could have happened from another medical professional. Get copies of all of your medical documents and tests to take to them.

After you have an appropriate diagnosis and treatment plan, you may want to reach out to your attorney about your case. If there were errors made that led to a misdiagnosis, it’s necessary for the medical providers to answer for their actions. They may need further training, to set up additional levels of checks and balances, or to take other steps to avoid this kind of mistake in the future.

If you are left with injuries from unnecessary treatment or have few treatment options because the cancer has spread further than it would have with an appropriate diagnosis, you may be able to start a medical malpractice lawsuit. This lawsuit aims to hold the medical providers liable for the damages they caused and can be used to penalize them for making dangerous, and potentially life-altering, mistakes. Your attorney can talk to you more specifically about your case and what to expect.

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