With regards to colon cancer there are some risk factors which ought to lead a doctor to check the individual for the presence of the cancer. When a person both has a family history together with has complaints of symptoms including rectal bleeding, doctors usually agree that a colonoscopy is required to determine if the person has colon cancer or rule it out. Mainly, doctors recommend that even those who are not at higher risk nonetheless get screened commencing at age fifty. But for the results of a colonoscopy to be reliable it needs to be complete. It needs to examine the entire span of the colon. In the event that obstructions or poor preparation yield incomplete visualization of parts of the colon, the person ought to be advised and the doctor ought to recommend to the individual that the colonoscopy ought to be done again or a different option, like a virtual colonoscopy, be considered. If the physician fails to let the patient know that the colonoscopy was no finished or that there was poor visibility and recommend appropriate follow up too much time may pass before the patient starts displaying symptoms or has another screening procedure. One case that was reported concerned a woman who died of colon cancer in her mid forties because her cancer was not discovered until it was at an advanced stage even though her physicians for years had information that she was at high risk. Look at her medical history. The woman had a family history of colon cancer. During the length of six years, physicians did 3 colonospies on this patient. On many occasions she continued to report to her physicians that she was suffering from pain in the abdomen and that she observed blood in her stool. At least one time her blood tests also revealed that she was anemic. All three are possible symptoms of colon cancer. The documentation from 2 of the colonoscopies demonstrated that there was incomplete visualization of the ascending colon and cecum as the scope could not be passed beyond the transverse colon. However, the physician who carried out the 3 colonoscopies and followed her throughout this period continued assuring the woman that her symptoms were as a result of hemorrhoids. Ultimately the patient underwent exploratory surgery as a way to determine the reason why she was having the symptoms. The cancer was discovered in the course of the surgery. A large section of her intestines was extracted as a consequence of cancer. Chemotherapy followed but she ultimately died from the cancer. Her family went forward with a wrongful death case against the physician for the failure to diagnose her cancer and to tell her that the results of the colonoscopies were incomplete. The law firm handled the case was able to report that they acheived a settlement of $875,000 on behalf of the family. Physicians use diagnostic tests as a way to discover or rule out specific diseases such as several kinds of cancers. For instance, the colonoscopy is a procedure used to find or exclude colon cancer but the result of the test is only as good as the precision with which the test was conducted. A colonoscopy employs a scope to examine the interior of the colon to find out whether there are any polyps or tumors in the colon When the total colon is not visualized, as in the claim above, a physician cannot depend on it to exclude cancer. Doing so makes about as much sense as only listening to one of your lungs, examining only one of your eyes, or ordering only part of a complete blood count. Should the patient does have cancer this might result in a delay in diagnosis that allows the cancer time to grow and advance to an incurable stage. Under such circumstances the doctor who relied on such an incomplete outcome might be liable under a medical malpractice or even wrongful death claim.
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The colonoscopy is a procedure used by doctors to check inside the colon for any growths that might be cancerous. This article reviews a lawsuit that alleged a woman passed away from colon cancer after her physician kept assuring her, during a 6 year period, that she just had hemorrhoids even though her colonoscopies were incomplete and her colon was never entirely examined.
Joseph Hernandez is an Attorney accepting cancer cases. You can learn more about cases involving advanced colon cancer and other cancers including breastcancer by visiting the websites
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