Medical Malpractice
The Failure to Diagnose Colon Cancer Problem
Failure to diagnose colon cancer is common and colon cancer is common. It is the fourth most diagnosed cancer and the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the US. The risk of colon cancer increases with age and family history. Diagnosis of colon cancer is usually by colonoscopy, and screening is recommended for adults 50 years of age and older.
Statistics like this are hard to get your mind around. But if you think about how many people that is for just a second, it is incredible.
Things are improving but just not quickly enough. There has been an almost 30% drop in the colorectal cancer mortality rate over the past couple of decades (but increasing for people under 50 who are more likely to be misdiagnosed). This is in large part from doctors and patients doing a better job with increased colonoscopy screening.
“Colon cancer is the 5th most commonly misdiagnosed disease.”
That does not mean that every colon cancer case where symptoms and problems consistent with colon cancer are missed by a doctor is a medical malpractice lawsuit in the making.
But it does underscore that too many colon cancer deaths every year are the result of mistakes that doctors make in interpreting a patient’s symptoms and in the negligent treatment of cancer after it is diagnosed. If you believe you may have a claim because a doctor failed to properly diagnose colon cancer, call 800-553-8082, or get a free online consultation.
In this article:
- What Is Colon Cancer?
- How Does Colon Cancer Progress?
- How Should Doctors Diagnose Colon Cancer?
- What Symptoms Should Doctors Recognize as Potential Colon Cancer?
- How Is Colon Cancer Misdiagnosed?
- Is a Delay in Diagnosing Colon Cancer Always Medical Malpractice?
- Colon Cancer Misdiagnosis Settlements and Verdicts
- How to Contact Our Malpractice Lawyers
What Is Colon Cancer?
Colon cancer results from the uncontrolled growth of cells in the colon. The colon is another word for the lower intestine. Colorectal tumors are most commonly in glandular structures in the epithelial tissue that lines the cavities and surfaces of blood vessels.
About 5% of us will get colon cancer during our lives. It is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer in the country. It is also more common in men and more common over the age of 50. Approximately 90% of cases are diagnosed in people over 50 years old.
“A colon cancer patient’s prognosis depends primarily on early diagnosis and treatment. ”
When detected early, colon cancer is very treatable and amenable to cure. However, if the cancer is detected at an advanced stage and has metastasized outside of the colon, the patient will likely die as a direct result of their colon cancer. Quality medical care is so important.
Colon cancer is distinct from rectal cancer. But epidemiological studies often combine colon and rectal cancer and report rates of colorectal cancer.
Colon cancer is associated with a family history of colon or rectal cancer (particularly in people less than 40 years old), obesity, physical inactivity, heavy alcohol consumption, consumption of red or processed meat, and inflammatory bowel disease. Rectal cancer is associated with age and sex without other apparent factors. Adenomatous polyps are the primary precursor of colon cancer and are associated with tobacco smoking.
The risk of colon cancer increases with age and is more likely to occur in those individuals with a family history of colon cancer or adenomatous polyps in a first-degree relative or a personal history of adenomatous colon polyps, ulcerative colitis or breast, ovarian, or endometrial cancer.
Adenomatous polyps are considered to be precursor lesions, and their removal by endoscopy is thought to decrease the likelihood of death from this disease. Not all colon polyps, however, undergo malignant transformation.
How Does Colon Cancer Progress?
The prognosis becomes more serious when the cancer spreads to nearby lymph nodes. The involvement of lymph nodes significantly increases the likelihood of cancer spreading to other parts of the body, often making the disease incurable. Due to this elevated risk, patients with positive lymph nodes but no detectable distant spread are often treated with adjuvant chemotherapy. This approach aims to target microscopic cancer cells that may have spread, thereby attempting to halt the progression of the disease and improve the patient’s overall outcome.
How Should Doctors Diagnose Colon Cancer?
The early detection and diagnosis of colon cancer are essential in halting the progression of this disease. Screening and diagnostic colonoscopies and sigmoidoscopies with barium enema, as well as fecal occult blood tests, and digital rectal examinations (DRE) are instrumental in diagnosing colon cancer at a curable stage.
Colonoscopy and sigmoidoscopy are endoscopic examinations of the large colon and the distal part of the small bowel that check for abnormal areas, lesions, polyps, and tumors. They also allow for a biopsy if a suspicious lesion is detected. A barium enema is a radiological study used to visualize the large intestine, including the colon and rectum.
What Symptoms Should Doctors Recognize as Potential Colon Cancer?
Symptoms of colon cancer include a change in one’s bowel habits (diarrhea, constipation, change in consistency) that lasts longer than four weeks, rectal bleeding or blood in stool, persistent abdominal discomfort (cramps, gas, pain), weakness or fatigue, and unexplained weight loss. In some cases, people with colon cancer experience no symptoms during the early stages of the disease.
Medical malpractice cases often follow when a doctor sees these symptoms and does not make an effort to rule out colon cancer.
Doctors need to refer the patient to an oncologist (cancer doctor) for further testing. Alternatively, a physician must identify colon cancer as a possible explanation for the patient’s symptoms and convey the gravity of the potential risk.
Usually, a colonoscopy is the best way to look for colon cancer. A colonoscopy should be performed by a specially trained doctor who looks with a lighted tube through the rectum and colon.
Patients age 40 or older with a family history of colon cancer should have colorectal cancer screening, including but not limited to a DRE, annual fecal occult blood tests, screening colonoscopies, and sigmoidoscopies with a barium enema.
How Is Colon Cancer Misdiagnosed?
Misdiagnosis of colorectal cancer, which includes under-diagnosis and over-diagnosis, happens because of the physician, the patient, or the diagnostic tests (laboratory and histopathology).
Early stages of colorectal cancer may not present with overt symptoms and, as a result, some cases are misdiagnosed. Often, the symptoms are reasonably missed. In these cases, the symptoms exhibited only fit the colon cancer symptoms mosaic with the benefit of hindsight. But there are also many instances where colon cancer is missed because of medical malpractice.
Though colonoscopies are the “gold standard” for colon cancer screening, they have an estimated “miss rate” of 22-27%. Incomplete bowel cleans out and inspection times can affect detection rates. Further, some lesions are difficult to visualize with colonoscopy and can go undetected.
Due to the embarrassing symptoms, some women and men will not seek medical advice or will try to self-diagnose. In other cases, doctors may not ask the patient about their symptoms. Physicians may also not order correct laboratory or histopathology tests to determine the presence of colon cancer or may not order a colonoscopy.
Errors may also occur with equipment, mislabeling of slides, or misinterpretation of laboratory results or histopathology slides. In one study, it was reported that 1.4% of histopathological slides are not accurately read. Furthermore, appropriate follow-up on abnormal laboratory results are not re-evaluated.
Is a Delay in Diagnosing Colon Cancer Always Medical Malpractice?
A delay in diagnosing colon cancer is not automatically classified as medical malpractice. For a case to qualify as malpractice, it must be shown that the delay in diagnosis had a direct and negative impact on the patient’s outcome. In other words, the legal standard requires proof that the patient’s prognosis would have been significantly better if the cancer had been diagnosed earlier. If the outcome would not change, you have malpractice but not a viable colon cancer failure to diagnose lawsuit.
Several critical factors come into play when determining whether a delayed diagnosis constitutes malpractice. These include the stage of the cancer at the time it was eventually diagnosed, the specific type of cancer involved, how early it could have been reasonably detected given the circumstances, and the likely success rate of treatment if the diagnosis had been made in a timely manner.
For patients who are experiencing symptoms that could be indicative of colon cancer, it is vital to seek prompt medical attention and discuss all concerns thoroughly with their healthcare provider. If there is any doubt or uncertainty regarding the diagnosis, obtaining a second opinion is highly recommended. Early detection is one of the most important factors in increasing the likelihood of a positive outcome, and taking proactive steps can be crucial in catching the disease at a more treatable stage.
Colon Cancer Misdiagnosis Settlements and Verdicts
Below are some examples of jury verdicts and settlements in Maryland and other jurisdictions in failure to timely diagnose colon cancer cases. These cases can be used to see the type of fact patterns that arise in these cases and can also give you a general understanding of how juries value these cases.
- 2024, Pennsylvania: $1,375 Settlement A man with a personal history of rectal cancer was under the care of the defendant doctor for many years. During those years, the doctor sent him for regular colonoscopies but the results were always inconclusive because of lack of proper prep (the bowel was not empty prior to the colonoscopy). Rather than send the man back for another test, the defendant simply treated the results as normal. When the patient later died from undiagnosed colon cancer his family sued for wrongful death.
- 2023, Idaho: $775,000 Settlement After going to the defendant gastroenterologist with complaints of rectal bleeding, the patient underwent a CT scan. The CT scan that noted “underlying neoplasm cannot be excluded,” the decedent was discharged after being told that everything looked clear and instructed to follow up with a colonoscopy. He was eventually diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer and died shortly thereafter.
- 2022 Oregon: $2,209,000 Verdict a 52-year-old male, died due to colon cancer approximately five years after two abdominal CT scans were taken at defendant hospital, which revealed an apple core lesion at the rectosigmoid junction of his colon, a sign of early-stage colon cancer. Those findings were never reported by staff members of the defendant and the cancer went undiagnosed.
- 2019, New York: $4,500,000 Settlement A urologist sends a patient to a radiologist for abdominal CT scans. The radiologist properly identified what appeared to be colon cancer on the images, but he did not call the patient or urologist to notify them directly. Instead, the radiologist listed the finding on the second page of their report and faxed it to the urologist. The urologist received the report but never bothered to look at the second page. These kinds of communication errors are a common theme in failure to diagnose colon cancer lawsuits. This communication failure led to a 19 month day in diagnosis. He hired a lawyer and sued both the radiologist and the urologist.
- 2018, Ohio: $5,200,000 Verdict A patient went to the doctor’s office complaining of blood in his stool and was examined by the defendant physician’s assistant. Neither the PA nor the doctor elected to perform medical tests that would have ruled out rectal cancer, colon cancer, or polyps as the source of the plaintiff’s bleeding. A year later, the plaintiff had a colonoscopy done. The procedure uncovered a tumor in his colon. By then, the cancer was stage IV and had spread to his liver. He died within a year and his family sues, accusing the defendants of breaching the standard of care by failing to order the tests that would have provided earlier detection of his colon cancer.
- 2018, Pennsylvania: $450,000 Settlement This is another failure to communicate colon cancer misdiagnosis lawsuit. A 52-year-old male patient was under the care of his family doctor. Although the patient had a significant family history of colon cancer and other risk factors, the defendant doctor failed to schedule routine monitoring with colonoscopies and biopsies at the required time intervals. He was eventually diagnosed with advanced-stage colon cancer and died soon after. His family hires a colon cancer misdiagnosis lawyer and brings a wrongful death lawsuit claiming that the GP was negligent in not having the patient undergo colonoscopies. The defendant claims that the patient was notified by mailings but did not follow up. Why only a $450,000 set
tlement. We can’t know all of the reasons. But the average colon cancer misdiagnosis settlement will be less if the patient makes a full recovery. - 2017, New York: $4,500,000 Settlement The plaintiff, a 49-year-old male, underwent radiology imaging before a kidney stone procedure. The radiology report that was submitted to the urologist cleared the plaintiff for the kidney stone procedure. On the second page of the report, the radiologist noted that he identified a potentially cancerous mass in the colon. Unfortunately, the urologist never read the second page of the report, so nothing was done. Almost two years pass before the plaintiff’s colon cancer is eventually diagnosed. He hires a malpractice attorney and sues the urologist and the radiologist for malpractice which resulted in a 19-month delay in diagnosis and treatment of his colon cancer.
- 2017, Ohio: $5,200,000 Verdict A man underwent a colonoscopy. Suspicious tissue was noted. The gastroenterologist failed to order a biopsy of tissue. This resulted in a long delay in the diagnosis of colon cancer. When the cancer was diagnosed, it had already spread. The man died. He left behind a wife and 3 minor children. His family hired an attorney and sued for wrongful death, claiming the defendants breached the standard of care by failing to order biopsies.
- 2015, Massachusetts: $3.6 Million Verdict A 45-year-old woman presents to her primary care doctor with abdominal pain after eating and smaller bowel movements. He diagnoses the plaintiff with an ulcer. She returns a month later with complaints of loose bowel movements. despite a family history of colon cancer, the doctor simply increases the acid-reducing medication he had prescribed. She returns yet again a month later, this time complaining of constipation. She is sent home again and comes back one more time another month later. Eventually, he refers her to another physician who does the colonoscopy that should have been done months ago. They find Stage IV colon cancer that has metastasized to her ovaries. She dies, and her family files suit. The doctor denies negligence and argues that an earlier diagnosis would not have altered her outcome. The jury disagrees.
- 2014, New Jersey: $1.5 Million Verdict A 54-year-old woman’s family contends in a wrongful death lawsuit that the defendant, a gastroenterologist, negligently failed to visualize the cecum during a colonoscopy that would have detected her cancer.
- 2013, New York: $950,000 Verdict In this wrongful death verdict, an internist misdiagnosed colon cancer for four years as gastritis, leading to stage-IV cancer in a 63-year-old Brooklyn man. The defense made the only argument it could under the circumstances, that an earlier diagnosis would not have averted his death.
- 2012, Maryland: $600,000 Settlement A 63-year-old woman sues a gastroenterologist for failing to diagnose a mass in her colon during a colonoscopy. The woman survives and sues for the delay in diagnosis and her decreased life expectancy.
- 2012, Pennsylvania: $3 Million Verdict A radiologist fails to note an irregularity on a CT scan which leads to a 22-month delay in treatment and a decreased chance of recovery.
- 2010, Massachusetts: $1.6 Million Settlement The defendants failed to timely diagnose and treat an anastomotic leak which resulted in the decedent’s untimely death. The defendants each deny the allegations of negligence.
- 2010, Michigan: $600,000 Settlement A man had an undiagnosed anastomotic leak after colon cancer surgery to remove a mass. The patient’s doctor did not recognize and treat the leak, despite multiple office visits.
Finding a Colon Cancer Misdiagnosis Lawyer
If you live in the Baltimore-Washington area and believe you or a relative have been a victim of medical negligence in the diagnosis or treatment of colon cancer, call (800) 553-8082 or get a free online medical malpractice consultation.
More Information on Cancer Misdiagnosis Claims
- Misdiagnosis claims: an overview
- Cancer misdiagnosis claims
- Radiologist Malpractice Claims
- Oncologist Malpractice Claims
- Breast Cancer
- Skin Cancer
- Wrongful death claims: an explanation of Maryland law
- An example of a rectal cancer misdiagnosis case filed in Frederick County
- Example failure to diagnose colon cancer lawsuit in Baltimore
- Example Colon Cancer Lawsuit