Cancer Misdiagnosis Lawyer
Doctors sometimes misdiagnose patients with another condition when they really have cancer, leading to disease progression and a lower survival rate. If a doctor has misdiagnosed your or a loved one’s cancer, speak to a cancer misdiagnosis lawyer immediately to learn your rights. Cutter Law has recovered a wide range of damages for victims of cancer misdiagnosis, including current and future medical bills, hospital bills, physical therapy fees, and pain and suffering.
Early diagnosis and treatment are vital to fighting cancer. Misdiagnosing the type or presence of cancer can prevent patients from receiving life-saving treatment, significantly reducing their chances of survival or recovery.
If you or a loved one received a cancer misdiagnosis, talk to Cutter Law’s misdiagnosis lawyers. We will evaluate your case to determine your eligibility for filing a medical malpractice lawsuit. If you’re eligible, you may receive significant financial compensation for pain and suffering, emotional distress, lost wages, physical therapy fees, and past, current, and future medical costs.Â
Quick Links
- What Causes a Cancer Misdiagnosis?
- Which Types of Cancers Are Commonly Misdiagnosed?
- Consequences of a Cancer Misdiagnosis
- Can You Sue a Doctor or Hospital for Cancer Misdiagnosis?
- Compensation for Cancer Misdiagnosis
- How To File a Cancer Misdiagnosis Claim
- What is the statute of limitations for medical malpractice cases in California?
- Why Choose Cutter Law P.C.
What Causes a Cancer Misdiagnosis?
A cancer misdiagnosis can happen for several reasons. Below are some of the common reasons that health care professionals misdiagnose cancer.Â
Pathologist Inexperience, Haste, or Stress
To determine whether you have cancer, a pathologist looks at the slides of a biopsy specimen under a microscope. Due to inexperience, haste, or stress, the pathologist may make a mistake. They are especially likely to make a mistake if they don’t have access to important information about your health, such as your risk factors, symptoms, or medical history.
Faulty or Inadequate Testing
The health care provider may not order all the tests required for a proper diagnosis, resulting in a misdiagnosis. They may also make careless mistakes during testing due to human error.
Misinterpretation of Test Results
A cancer misdiagnosis may also happen if the health care provider misinterprets the test results. These misinterpretations are often the result of negligence or incompetence.
Poor Communication Between Health Care Providers
Inadequate communication or miscommunication between health care providers causes cancer misdiagnoses. Such flawed communications include failing to secure medical records or not consulting with specialists.Â
Which Types of Cancers Are Commonly Misdiagnosed?
According to the Johns Hopkins Hospital, these are the most commonly misdiagnosed types of cancer:
- Lung cancer shares many symptoms with non-cancerous lung diseases. As such, it’s often misdiagnosed as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, or pneumonia.Â
- Breast cancer can easily be confused with fibrocystic breasts, a common benign condition.
- Colorectal cancer may be confused with inflammatory bowel disease or diverticulitis, which happens when small pouches of the digestive system become inflamed.
- Prostate cancer is often misdiagnosed as bladder cancer because ultrasounds often show lesions in the bladder. However, these lesions are sometimes caused by cancer that has metastasized, or spread, from the prostate.
- Skin cancer may be confused with benign skin growths, such as seborrheic keratoses.
Consequences of a Cancer Misdiagnosis
The consequences of a cancer misdiagnosis can be severe. Some potential consequences include the following:
- Delayed treatment: Cancer misdiagnosis can delay the start of appropriate treatment, allowing cancer to grow and spread to other body parts. Cancer that has spread to distant body parts is more challenging to treat than localized cancer.
- Reduced chance of survival: If a patient does not receive an accurate diagnosis in time, their chances of survival may be significantly reduced.
- Incorrect or unnecessary treatment: Misdiagnosed patients may receive treatment for different conditions, which may be ineffective or harmful.Â
- Additional costs: Patients may incur additional costs from unnecessary tests, treatments, and other procedures related to cancer misdiagnosis. They may also have to pay for treating side effects and conditions that arise from incorrect or unnecessary treatment.
- Emotional harm: Cancer misdiagnosis and its consequences can cause emotional distress and harm the mental well-being of the patient and their family.
Can You Sue a Doctor or Hospital for Cancer Misdiagnosis?
You may be eligible to file a cancer misdiagnosis lawsuit against a doctor or hospital if you’re a victim of cancer misdiagnosis.Â
When filing a lawsuit against a health care provider, you or your family are called the plaintiff. The health care provider is called the defendant.Â
As the plaintiff, you can file a lawsuit against any party responsible for the cancer misdiagnosis, such as a pathologist, nurse, doctor, or any entity or company that employs the responsible professional. To succeed, you and your cancer misdiagnosis lawyer must provide sufficient evidence that the defendant is liable for medical negligence resulting in a cancer misdiagnosis.Â
To do this, your attorney must prove the basic elements of a medical negligence lawsuit:Â
- A “doctor-patient” relationship between you and the defendant gave rise to a duty of care.
- The defendant acted negligently, breaching that duty and leading to the cancer misdiagnosis.
- The defendant’s cancer misdiagnosis caused you harm.
- The cancer misdiagnosis has resulted in specific damages, such as increased medical costs or a new illness.
Reach out to one of Cutter Law’s medical malpractice lawyers in Oakland or Sacramento. They can investigate your case and help you prove your claim.Â
Compensation for Cancer Misdiagnosis
The costs of an individual’s losses vary from case to case. As a result, there is no standard range or amount for a cancer misdiagnosis trial verdict or settlement.Â
An experienced Sacramento medical malpractice lawyer can help you obtain the following damage award payouts:
- Medical bills for surgeries, treatments, follow-up care, and medications
- Lost current and future earnings for you and your spouse (if your spouse took time off to care for you)
- Non-economic damages, which are those that are difficult to quantify, such as the physical pain or emotional suffering felt by the victim or their loved ones
- Wrongful death damages, including lost income and the loss of a deceased’s guidance and companionship, if you are filing on behalf of a loved one who died due to a cancer misdiagnosis
- Punitive damages, which punish the hospital, doctor, or medical provider that was egregiously incompetent or willfully negligent
How To File a Cancer Misdiagnosis Claim
If you’re eligible for a cancer misdiagnosis claim, Cutter Law will handle every step of the legal process so you can focus on your health.
Here’s what you need to do to file a cancer misdiagnosis claim:
- Book a free consultation with Cutter Law: We can determine whether you’re eligible to file a cancer misdiagnosis claim.
- Investigate and gather evidence: Our misdiagnosis attorneys will thoroughly investigate your case and work with you to gather and preserve evidence, such as medical reports.
- File your cancer misdiagnosis lawsuit: We will help you file your claim and meet relevant deadlines.
- Negotiate with the opposition: Our seasoned lawyers will negotiate a fair settlement payout with the opposition. Â
- Try your case: If we cannot reach a fair settlement with the opposing side, we can take your case to a judge and jury.
What is the statute of limitations for medical malpractice cases in California?
Every state has statutes of limitations, or deadlines, for filing personal injury claims, such as medical malpractice lawsuits over cancer misdiagnoses.Â
California’s medical malpractice statute of limitations is only one year after discovering the misdiagnosis. If you fail to file your case before the deadline, you’ll miss the opportunity to obtain compensation and justice. A skilled Cutter Law medical malpractice attorney can file all paperwork ahead of the deadlines so you can focus on getting your life back together.
Why Choose Cutter Law P.C.
If a hospital, medical professional, or treatment center misdiagnosed your or a loved one’s cancer, Cutter Law’s California medical malpractice lawyers can help. Our lawyers have 130 years of combined legal experience and have obtained hundreds of millions of dollars for injured clients and their families.
Call 888-285-3333 or fill out this form to book a free case evaluation.Â
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Sacramento, CA 95864
Phone: 916-290-9400
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Cutter Law P.C.
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Oakland, CA 94612
