Cancer, heart attacks, strokes, blood clots and infection are just a few of the medical conditions that are sometimes incorrectly diagnosed. Your doctor may have evaluated your symptoms incorrectly or failed to give you the necessary tests to determine your condition. Often called “failure to diagnose”, this common form of medical malpractice could lead to severe injuries, large medical bills and, in some cases, death.

Failure to Diagnose Cancer

An estimated 41% of all Americans will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their life. Early diagnosis and treatment of cancer is one of the keys to a successful outcome.

There are certain cancers that are detectable in an early stage by routine screening tests. For example, mammograms can detect early stage breast cancer; colonoscopies can detect early stage colon cancer; PAP smears can detect pre-cancerous conditions and early stage cervical cancer; and PSA blood tests can detect early stage prostate cancer. If there is an opportunity to diagnose cancer and this opportunity is missed by a doctor then this “failure to diagnose” your cancer may be considered medical malpractice.