What would make a doctor liable in the case of breast cancer?

If you believe you are suffering from a more advanced stage of breast cancer because of a failure to timely diagnose cancer, "is my doctor liable" would be a natural question to ask yourself. There are several things that might make your doctor liable for your diagnosis of breast cancer:

• The treatment the doctor provided to you was a significant deviation from the standard practice causing your diagnosis to be delayed.
• You suffered additional harm or injury as a result of the delayed diagnosis.
• The additional harm or injury that you suffered was a direct result of the doctor's deviation from the standard practice.

Now, obviously if you have breast cancer you have suffered harm, but you will need to prove that your cancer is at a more advanced stage because you were not diagnosed in a timely manner although there was ample opportunity for your doctor to have discovered the breast cancer earlier.

Unfortunately, proving a doctor's liability for additional harm, illness or injury is not as easy as it sounds. There is an accepted standard of care for detecting and diagnosing breast cancers. You will need the expert opinion of another doctor who practices the same type of medicine as your doctor to examine you and your medical record, and come to the conclusion that your care was a deviation from expected standards or that your doctor treated you in a negligent manner.

Talk to a malpractice attorney and explain the facts in your case. If the attorney believes that the treatment (or lack of treatment) you received was the proximate cause of not detecting your cancer at an earlier stage, the attorney may agree to take on your case and help you find appropriate recourse.