Legal Question in Medical Malpractice in Pennsylvania
not familiar with anything at all related to medical malpractice and not sure if I am just overly upset about a recent loss. My mother started going to the Dr in the Summer of 2011 for stomach pain, they said after many many tests that she had a kink in her bile, it was monitored and the issue resolved itself. She was in the hospital for a week to 10 days for tests thru her Dr. We thought the issue was resolved,she seemed Ok for a year. Then in the Summer of 2012, under the same Dr care, she again had stomach problems and this time they thought it was an infection in her stomach, treated her with antibiotics, it did not clear up so they performed exploratory surgery and the Dr told us in August 2012 it was colon cancer, but not to worry, they got most of it and in their words would clean up the rest with chemo. She then didn't even start chemo for 2 and a half more months. After her 4th treatment she became ill, went to the hospital, they determined there was a blockage in her bile and she would need surgery.During the surgery they said they found additional cancer, and 4 days later she passed. She was in the hospital 2 different times before diagnoses,one for a week, another stay for over 2 weeks. MANY MANY tests, scans, etc. before it was found after a year of stomach pain, chemo was not started for a few months after finding because they were confident they got it all. The family also has a history of colon cancer, our grandfather passed from it. Is this in any way malpractice? Very frustrating that they did so much testing all under the care of one Dr and it was not found after so many trips to the hospital.
2 Answers from Attorneys
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As you tell it, your mother was diagnosed with metastatic colon cancer in August 2012 found in the course of exploratory surgery.
Colon cancer should be detected an early stage by screening colonoscopy, done in the course of routine checkups by a primary ca re physician. There a re protocols for how often colonoscopy should be done.
In my opinion, the question of malpractice in this case hinges on whether your mother had a primary care relationship with this doctor, or another doctor, who missed the opportunity to screen her for colon cancer, especially in light of her family history.
If you believe you have a case, I urge you to start contacting medical malpractice attorneys as soon as possible. Medical malpractice attorneys will generally listen to your complaint for free. If they think you have a case, they will invite you to their office to find out more details. Generally they will not charge for this service, but, if they believe you have a case, will offer to take the case on a contingent fee basis, meaning you only pay them out the money they win for you, if any.
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