Legal Question in Health Care Law in California

Missed Diagnosis

My mother has been hosptalized since May. Admitting diagnosis was resperatory failure which we were told was caused by pleural effusion. They did chest xrays on her but no CAT or PET scans or attempted to find out what the cause of the pleural effusion was until they did a broncoscopy (with no biopsy) 2 weeks ago. We were told then she had squamous cell lung cancer and she'd only receive pallative care as she was too weak now to handle surgery, chemo or radiation; they didn't think she'd live to this weekend. She had been getting progressively weaker over the last 6 months from repeated bouts of pneumonia, recurrent fluid on her lungs, and a nonspecific anemia which required multiple transfusions and frequent doses of procrit in the last 6 months.

Is this missed diagnosis of her cancer negligence or malpractice or just a normal part of treating the elderly, that they just can't find reasons for everything?


Asked on 11/14/04, 10:07 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Mitchell Roth MW Roth, Professional Law Corporation

Re: Missed Diagnosis

It may be negligence, but not a case. Lung cancer is always fatal, especially for the elderly. A case may be made that she suffered more than she had to, but under California law pain and suffering is an element of damage that dies with the patient. Since you mom will likely no live to see a recovery, there is inadequate damages to justify pursuit of a wrongful death case.

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Answered on 11/16/04, 9:29 am


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