After 7 months of chemotherapy, woman learns she never had cancer

On Behalf of | Jul 23, 2013 | Doctor Errors

Patients in New Mexico rely on doctors to alert them of any possible illnesses so that the patient can be treated immediately. Although patients can suffer when doctors fail to diagnose cancer and other serious conditions, it can be just as harmful for doctors to diagnose illnesses that patients don’t have. For this reason, it is important for negligent doctors to be held accountable for the distress they cause.

When a 54-year-old woman was diagnosed with an advanced stage of breast cancer, she expected it to take her life and even made end-of-life arrangements. Nevertheless, she followed her doctor’s orders for fighting the disease, which included seven months of chemotherapy treatment. Like most chemotherapy patients, the woman lost her hair and her body swelled. If the chemotherapy had saved the woman’s life, she may have been more willing to endure the chemotherapy without complaint.

However, when the woman was treated at another hospital, doctors there discovered that the woman had needlessly undergone the cancer treatments. The doctor that diagnosed her had apparently misread her lab report. According to the doctors at the hospital, she never had cancer. Because the doctor responsible for the diagnosis has died, she could not file a lawsuit against him, but she received more than $350,000.

Although the woman is likely to recover from the physical pain and discomfort of the chemotherapy treatments, according to the woman, the incident will have a long-term impact on her. Fortunately, victims of doctor negligence may be entitled to compensation. People in this situation may want to work with an attorney.

Source: KHOU, “Cancer-free woman undergoes chemotherapy after false diagnosis,” Drew Karedes, July 16, 2013

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