Late Diagnosis of Leukemia: Medical Negligence and Liability for Injury

Leukemia is a disease in which a patient's bone marrow produces abnormally large number of leukocytes, sometimes called white blood cells. White blood cells defend the body against illnesses and other diseases. A body afflicted by leukemia is unable to fight diseases, making it susceptible to illness. Many times, the reduced capacity of the body's immune system makes otherwise non-lethal illnesses deadly. The flu and upper respiratory infections are common in individuals with leukemia.

Diagnosing Leukemia

Leukemia is diagnosed in one or more of three different methods: physical examination, blood tests and a bone marrow biopsy. During a physical examination, a doctor will inspect the patient's body for bruising, paleness and any sites of prolonged bleeding. He will also look for signs of the patient's spleen being enlarged and the patient being more tired than usual. If the doctor notices these signs, he will likely order blood tests performed. Blood tests determine whether the patient has a higher than normal white blood cell count, indicating an abnormality in the body. Subsequently, the doctor may perform a bone marrow biopsy. If the bone marrow shows a high number of white blood cells, the patient may have leukemia.

A Doctor's Standard of Care

Every doctor who voluntarily agrees to treat a patient owes their patient a duty of care. This duty requires that they act in the patient's best interest at all times, but also that they follow their patient's wishes. Failing to act in the patient's best interests can constitute malpractice.

Malpractice Explained

Malpractice occurs whenever the doctor breaches a duty of care. Malpractice includes the failure to act, such as not performing tests, and the poor execution of a task, such as performing surgery on the wrong limb. Doctors are held to the standard of what a normal physician in the same location and under the same circumstances would do.

In diagnosing leukemia, a doctor can commit malpractice if they do not perform tests for the disease, despite the patient presenting the physical conditions of the disease. For example, a patient seeking treatment for bruising or tiredness, but whose doctor does not perform a physical examination or blood tests, may have a legal cause of action.

Proving Malpractice in a Leukemia Diagnosis

A patient wanting to sue for diagnosing leukemia late must show that the doctor did not perform the tests he should have and that, as a result, the illness was allowed to spread unchecked. The patient does not have to suffer any adverse physical reactions or die as a result of the disease; it is enough that the illness was allowed to continue spreading and multiplying after an acceptable date – the date by which another physician would have made the diagnosis.

Getting Legal Advice

If you believe that your physician's diagnosis of leukemia allowed the illness to progress further than was reasonable, seek legal advice. A lawyer will review your physician's actions and discuss whether you can file a malpractice lawsuit.