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Failure to Diagnose Cancer and Your Legal Options (Part A)

Failure to detect and diagnose cancer can cause cancerous cells to spread to other parts of the body, which may further decrease the effectiveness of your cancer treatment. Throughout the years, medical professionals have realized that cancer cases that are detected and diagnosed early are much more likely to react positively to treatment. Even so, some physicians in the United States still fail to diagnose cancer, even when the symptoms are present.

How does a physician fail to diagnose cancer?

While medical testing has been proven effective in early cancer detection, failure to diagnose cancer still takes place. A physician's failure to competently administer cancer tests or failure to order a cancer test due to financial concern can also result in failure to diagnose cancer.

For example, radiologists can misread mammogram results, which may cause cancerous cells in the breast to enlarge or spread to other parts of the body. Furthermore, if a biopsy is misread or the cancerous cells are not sampled, this can also result in a failure to diagnose cancer.

A physician may also fail to diagnose cancer if certain physical changes in your body are not taken into consideration such as weight loss or lymph node swelling.

What is the best legal option if my physician fails to diagnose cancer?

Your best legal recourse when there is a failure to diagnose cancer is to talk to an experienced Chicago medical malpractice attorney about the possibility of filing an Illinois medical malpractice claim. To file a successful Illinois medical malpractice claim, you will be required to show that the medical professional acted negligently when it came to meeting the required standard of care. It must also be clear that you sustained injury as a result of the failure to diagnose cancer. An experienced Chicago medical malpractice attorney can work with medical experts to investigate your case and help you determine if a medical professional's negligence caused you further harm.

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The Law Offices of
Barry G. Doyle, P.C.
5215 Old Orchard Road
Suite 710
Skokie, IL 60077
Phone: 312.263.1080
Fax: 312.263.0153

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