Breast Cancer Misdiagnosis
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Nearly 200,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer every year, and an estimated 40,000 die of the disease annually. Everyone has heard the story: a middle-aged woman who consistently went for routine check ups and mammograms is diagnosed with advanced breast cancer.
The main question is, “How did this happen?” A diagnosis breast cancer is devastating to any woman, but the added question of whether her doctor failed to diagnose the cancer sooner often leads the patient to call a lawyer.
Failure to properly interpret mammogram films, failure to obtain a breast sonogram, fine needle aspiration, biopsy or lumpectomy can result in extensive delays in diagnosis of this often treatable disease. In addition, the negligent analysis of biopsy material can often lull a patient into the feeling that nothing is wrong.
In addition, symptoms of breast cancer, such as lumps, pain or nipple discharge are too often ignored or explained away as cyclical hormonal changes. Early detection of breast cancer is essential to reducing spread of the disease (metastasis). Prompt diagnosis can also mean less invasive surgery. For example, a lumpectomy (removal of the lump only) may be sufficient for an early diagnosed and localized cancer. The longer the delay in treatment, however, leads to a greater chance of more extensive surgery, such as mastectomy.
Assessments for chemotherapy and radiation will also depend to some degree on whether the cancer was promptly diagnosed.
There are also uncommon types of breast cancer, such as inflammatory breast cancer, which can manifest early on with symptoms similar to a harmless a skin rash. There will usually not be a discrete lump in the breast, but the breast may look larger than the other breast, appear red, orange or inflamed, and there may be changes to the nipple, such as flattening or inversion. Any of these symptoms should prompt a biopsy and work up for breast cancer.
It is not commonly known that men can also develop breast cancer. In fact, 1,700 men are diagnosed with breast cancer each year. Diagnosis of breast cancer in men is similar to that of women: mammography and biopsy are often recommended.
If you or someone you know has been diagnosed with breast cancer that you believe should have been diagnosed sooner, call Phillips & Paolicelli, LLP. Our team of medical malpractice lawyers specializes in cases of delayed diagnosis of breast cancer. We can help you or your loved one get the compensation they deserve.