Doctor Settles For $600,000 For Not Informing Man Tests Indicated Possibility Of Prostate Cancer

Men often have a scant comprehension of prostate cancer, their own chances for the cancer, and how to determine whether they have prostate cancer. Most male patients are not aware of what it means to screen for prostate cancer or that screening should be undertaken before they begin to show symptoms. They put their confidence in their doctor to do whatever is appropriate to find any cancer early and cure them.

Delayed diagnosis of prostate cancer incidents are all too common. This article will consider the following pattern: the physician (1) actually screens the individual for prostate cancer by following the amount of PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) in his system, (2) notices abnormally raised levels of PSA and but (3) neither informs him about the abnormal results (and what they suggest) nor orders diagnostic tests, for instance a biopsy, to eliminate prostate cancer. Consider the following lawsuit, for instance:

In this reported claim a male patient discovered he had prostate cancer after he followed up when informed by his internist that he most likely had cancer. The issue in this case was that the physician did not tell the patient that he could have cancer for 3 years after the first raised PSA test results. The year prior the patients PSA level had gone up to 13.6. Two years prior to that it had been at 8.0 During these years the physician took no action to rule out prostate cancer as the cause of these high readings and did not inform the patient. By the time he was diagnosed he had advanced prostate cancer and surgery was not one of the treatment options. Treating physicians instead advised radiation therapy and hormone therapy. Neither of these would eliminate the cancer but they might obstruct the cancers advancement and additional spread. The law firm that handled this matter reported that they took the case to mediation where they achieved a settlement of $600,000.

However not following up after noting abnormal test results creates a situation in which those patients who do actually have prostate cancer might not find out they have it until it has spread beyond the prostate, restricting the patients options for treatment, and significantly decreasing the chances that the patient will be able to survive the cancer.

At a minimum they should advise the patient that the test results are abnormal and refer the man to a specialist. Another option is to order recommend diagnostic testing, like a biopsy.

This lawsuit illustrates a type of mistake that can lead to the delayed diagnosis of a patients prostate cancer. It occurs when the physician actually follows the guidelines and screens male patients for prostate cancer however does not follow through when the test results are abnormal.