Failure to Diagnose Colon Cancer

    /24-7PressRelease/ - April 18, 2008 - Colorectal cancer is the third most common form of cancer. There are about 150,000 new cases diagnosed each year. Like most cancers, early detection and treatment is the key to survival. Colon cancer can usually be successfully treated when it is caught before it spreads beyond the wall of the intestine.

Five year survival rates for colon cancer are lower than 10% if the cancer is not discovered until it has spread to other organs or tissue elsewhere in the body, but are better than 90% when the cancer is discovered early, according to the National Cancer Institute.

Colon and rectal cancer detection
The fecal occult blood test is a simple, non-invasive test which is often performed to determine if further testing for colon cancer may be needed.

A colonoscopy is the primary test used to screen for the cancer. If you have a family history which indicates that you are at risk for developing colon cancer, your doctor should recommend that you begin having colonoscopies at 21 years old, and have one every one to two years. If you are not at an elevated risk for the disease, you should begin colonoscopy screening by the time you reach 50.

Your doctor may also wish to perform a fecal immunochemical test, and a visual inspection of the rectum with a sigmoidoscopy.

Symptoms
Rectal bleeding is the most common symptom of colon cancer, but there are some other signs which your doctor should recognize as indicators of the disease. Symptoms of colon cancer include:
• Defecating less frequently
• Narrow stools
• Weight loss
• Fatigue
• Cramping and bloating
• Gas
• Nausea and vomiting
• Blood in stool
• A false feeling of the need to defecate
• Anemia

How colon cancer goes undetected
Early detection of colon cancer can save your life. Your doctor has a responsibility to recommend the proper tests at the appropriate time of life for you, based on your medical and family history, even if you do not yet have any symptoms. If you do report symptoms to your doctor, he or she should address them promptly. Common errors leading to undiagnosed colon cancer include:
• Failure to recognize and address common symptoms of colon cancer
• Failure to address family history of colon cancer
• Failing to recommend colonoscopy
• Mistakes in the performance of colonoscopy
• Failing to work up low red blood cell counts that are persistent

Delayed diagnosis of colon cancer means that you will have to undergo much more aggressive, expensive, and painful treatment, and often results in death.

New Jersey medical malpractice lawyer Michael L. Weiss, Esq. has tried several failure to diagnose colon cancer lawsuits to a jury and has successfully recovered millions of dollars on behalf of medical malpractice victims and their families. If you or a loved one has been harmed by a physician's failure to diagnose colon cancer, please contact Weiss & Paarz, P.C., today.

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