People in New Mexico may be interested to learn about the outcome of a medical malpractice case involving a Maine woman. She had cervical cancer, a diagnosis that was missed due to a lab technician’s failure to read her results correctly as far back as 2009.
According to the testimony of experts, if the woman’s abnormal cells had been correctly diagnosed in 2009, she could have had a simple outpatient procedure that would have given her a 100 percent recovery chance. If the cancer had been caught in 2010, she could have undergone a hysterectomy that would have given her a 95 percent chance for recovery. Instead, the cancer continued to grow and spread until a specialist found it in 2011. By the time the specialist discovered the cancer, it was easily visible.
At the time her cervical cancer was discovered, it had advanced to stage 3 and she had less than a 50 percent chance to survive it. The woman reportedly said that it had become too painful to sit down. She had to undergo chemotherapy and lost her colon. She may also lose her small bowel and has suffered some brain function loss due to the chemotherapy.
The woman’s case demonstrates just how dangerous a failure to diagnose a condition can be. When people go to their doctors for annual checkups, they do so with the understanding that their doctors and medical staff will be able to identify any problems and take steps to correct them. In the event the doctor or the medical staff fail to diagnose something as serious as cancer, the patient’s cancer may then worsen significantly and spread, becoming far more advanced than if it had been caught early. Those who have suffered due to a diagnostic failure may want to consider speaking with a medical malpractice attorney to determine the remedies for obtaining compensation for the harm suffered.
Source: AOL, “Maine woman awarded $10 million after cancer screenings misread,” May 21, 2015.