Medical Malpractice Claim for Undiagnosed Ovarian Cancer

Negligence on the part of a medical practitioner can result in patient injuries and medical malpractice.  Any time someone who is working in the medical field does not hold to the standards of proper patient care, there is the potential for harm.  One of the areas where medical malpractice cases often arise are when serious, life threatening diseases are not diagnosed correctly and the patient’s condition causes significant harm.  The lack of diagnosis and treatment of ovarian cancer can be extremely devastating and even result in death.

Symptoms and Diagnosis of Ovarian Cancer

Early diagnosis of ovarian cancer is very important so that treatments can begin immediately before the cancer spreads to other areas of the body.  Ovarian cancer can be hard to detect early on if you are solely relying on symptoms, but routine exams by a gynecologist or other primary care physician help determine if further testing needs to be done.  Some of the possible symptoms of ovarian cancer include:

• Pressure or bloating in the abdominal area
• Need to frequently urinate
• Pain or discomfort in pelvic area
• Constant indigestion
• Constipation
• Appetite loss
• Pain during intercourse
• Pain in lower back
• Menstrual changes

If you are experiencing some of these symptoms and are concerned that a physician is not listing to your situation or taking the necessary precautions, then you may be receiving negligent care and it is a good idea to get a second opinion.

Duty to Standard of Care

Those who work in the medical field are required to uphold an established standard of patient care, so that everyone is treated equally and there is no room for negligent injury to occur.  In the case of ovarian cancer, misdiagnosis of symptoms or a failure to diagnose the disease altogether because cancer screening tests were not performed or the test results were read incorrectly is a form of negligence and warrants a medical malpractice claim.

Probable Causation

When bringing a claim of medical malpractice, it must be proven that the injury or harm in question was the direct result of negligence on the behalf of the medical practitioner.  For instance, if you went in for a routine check-up and your pelvic exam showed a tumor in one of your ovaries but the physician failed to mention it to you or perform the proper follow-up testing, then the physician’s omission of diagnosis could become the cause of serious injury.  Causation must be established for a medical malpractice claim to be pursued.

Getting Legal Help

If you are concerned that you have been mistreated by a medical practitioner and have been caused harm by undiagnosed ovarian cancer, then it is vital to your case that an experienced attorney is contacted to help you defend your claim.  The attorney will be able to assist you in filing the claim and in recouping on damages caused by the undiagnosed cancer.