Be alert. Be proactive. Don’t be a passive recipient of medical care. Listen to your doctor’s words but speak up regarding the condition for which you are being treated and any exams you were asked to undergo. Why is that so critical? It’s not unheard of for a doctor to not take seriously your complaints and symptoms or to mis-diagnose them as something other than possible signs of cancer. A doctor will refer you to a specialist if there is even the slightest hint that something serious is going on in your body– severe weight loss, fatigue, bloating, pain, etc. A woman in New Zealand died after a five-year battle with breast cancer when the doctor failed to diagnose her despite being told by a specialist that she had cancerous lesions. The doctor’s excuse, he “either overlooked or completely forgot about the radiologist’s comment in relation to a suspicious lesion.” (“New Zealand doctor ‘completely forgot’ to diagnose patient’s breast cancer” by Australian Associated Press, August 25, 2014).
Cancer must be detected on time, and if it is not, it metastasizes into different parts of your body– your liver, your lymph nodes, etc. Your only chance of surviving most cancers is if they are diagnosed in time. If the doctor missed your cancer, then under law he can be held accountable for your pain and suffering or death because the law allows you to be compensated. His license is not at risk, this is simply the common law right for you to receive compensation through his insurance. If your questions went unanswered or your doctor failed to follow up with certain warning signs about your health, know that you are not without solutions. You should contact the Diefenbach law firm, located in the Wall Street area in New York City, with nearly 30 years in the medical legal industry fighting for patients’ rights to be compensated for a doctor’s negligence. Contact Gordon Price Diefenbach directly at gordon@new.diefenbachlaw.com, an experienced medical malpractice attorney, who will fight for your rights.
For additional information regarding cancer misdiagnosis, please see our inner page entitled “Failure to Diagnose Cancer.”
