Lung Cancer Misdiagnosis Malpractice Case

Lung cancer: does the patient have cancer or is that scar tissue in the lung from tuberculosis or something else? The doctor has a duty to obtain any previous chest x-rays. If this is a "new lump" seen in the lung and the patient had a chest x-ray a year before and five years ago, which showed the same lump, it couldn't be cancer because it hasn't changed. How was the patient evaluated before surgery? Bronchoscopy, looking into the windpipe, and obtaining sputum specimens for germs and cancer analysis is important. The condition must be properly diagnosed, biopsies performed when possible, the patient told about the risks, and the previous chest x-rays checked. Very often we see negligence in failing to examine earlier x-rays, whether they were taken for tuberculosis screening, for work physicals, for insurance, for previous hospitalizations, or for any other condition. Have good copies made of all x-rays. Was the lump seen earlier? Was it misdiagnosed when the cancer cure rate would have been higher? Has it changed? Is it cancer or was it some old scarring, tuberculosis or pleurisy? Lung cancer is one of the top five diseases in terms of malpractice dollar awards. The typical case alleges misdiagnosis via poor diagnostic methods or mismanagement of diagnostic tests. Delayed diagnosis of lung cancer offers a much poorer prognosis, and therefore any malpractice award is typically large in terms of dollar value.

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